Just a point on what defines “the South” (being from the South myself).
Florida is IN the South – geographically – but it is not OF the South. Culturally, Florida is completely different from the aggregate of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas, which are culturally somewhat similar (at least compared to Florida).
Culturally, Florida has more in common with California or New York than with Georgia, et al. Just clearing that point up.[/quote]
I do agree it is not the prototypical southern state. But there’s still shades of its racial attitude. Call it the California of the South, if you will. Kinda like how Santee’s mayor describe his city as the La Jolla of east county.