White Southerners
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 64,685,898 (2020 census) 57.70% of the total population | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Southern United States (except in counties with a Black majority or a Hispanic majority) | |
| Texas | 14,609,365 |
| Florida | 12,422,961 |
| North Carolina | 6,488,459 |
| Georgia | 5,555,483 |
| Virginia | 5,208,856 |
| Tennessee | 4,990,938 |
| South Carolina | 3,243,442 |
| Alabama | 3,220,452 |
| Louisiana | 2,657,652 |
| Oklahoma | 2,514,885 |
| Arkansas | 2,114,512 |
| Mississippi | 1,658,893 |
| Languages | |
| Southern American English, Appalachian English, Isleño Spanish, Louisiana Creole, Texan English, Texan German, Cajun English, Louisiana French, Italian and Spanish | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly Protestantism (especially Southern Baptist, nondenominational, and Methodist), also Judaism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Old Stock Americans, Scotch-Irish Americans, Black Southerners, Cajuns, Louisiana Creoles, Melungeons, Louisiana Isleños, Floridanos, Jews | |
White Southerners, historically called White Confederates or Southrons, are European Americans from the Southern United States, originating from the various waves of Northwestern European immigration to the region beginning in the 17th century. A uniform sense of identity among White Southerners emerged as part of a common Southern culture.
Academic John Shelton Reed argues that "Southerners' differences from the American mainstream have been similar in kind, if not degree, to those of the immigrant ethnic groups". Reed states that Southerners, as other ethnic groups, are marked by differences from the national norm, noting that they tend to be poorer, less educated, more rural, and specialize in job occupation. He argues that they tended to differ in cultural and political terms, and that their accents serve as an ethnic marker.
Upon White Southerners Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton being elected to the U.S. presidency during the late 20th century, it symbolized generations of change from an Old South to New South society. Journalist Hodding Carter and State Department spokesperson during the Carter administration stated: "The thing about the South is that it's finally multiple rather than singular in almost every respect." The transition from President Carter to President Clinton also mirrored the social and economic evolution of the South in the mid-to-late 20th century.
White Southern diaspora populations exist in Brazil and Belize, known respectively as the Confederados and Confederate Belizeans.