White Southerners

White Southerners, Southrons

This map reflects the Southern United States as defined by the Census Bureau.[citation needed]
Total population
69.7 million (58.2% of the total population of the Southern US) (2020)
Regions with significant populations
Southern United States, Upland South, Appalachia, Little Dixie (Missouri), and Little Dixie (Oklahoma)
Languages
Southern American English, Cajun English, Louisiana French, Texan English, Italian, Spanish, other languages of Europe
Religion
Protestantism, minority Catholicism and Judaism[2]
Related ethnic groups
Appalachian-Americans, Mountain white, Irish-Americans, Welsh-Americans, Scottish-Americans, Cornish-Americans, French-Americans, Scotch-Irish Americans, English-Americans, German-Americans, Shenandoah Germans, Okie, Old Stock Americans. Old Stock Canadians, Cajuns, Louisiana Creole people, Melungeon, White Americans in Texas, Black Southerners, Five Civilized Tribes

White Southerners are White Americans from the Southern United States, primarily originating from the various waves of Northwestern and Southern European immigration to the region beginning in the 16th century to the British Southern colonies, French Louisiana, the Spanish-American colonies; and the subsequent waves of immigration from Northwestern Europe,^[3][4] Central Europe,^[5][6] Eastern Europe,^[7][8] Southern Europe,^[9][10] the Caribbean,^[11][12] Latin America,^[13][14] and the Levant.^[15][16] A semi-uniform white Southern identity coalesced during the Reconstruction era partially to enforce white supremacism in the region. Due to post-Civil War migrations and assimilation, many white Southerners can trace their ancestry to multiple different ethno-cultural communities in the region.^[17]

Many free blacks in the South assimilated into the white population.^{[18][19][20][21]} According to a 2014 study, about 10% of self-identified White Southerners have African ancestry, compared to 3.5% of White Americans in general.^[22][23]