Sho' they are. You just don't see people in other parts of the country speaking or eating like we do down heah! Where else can you find Pine Bark Stew or Hoppin' John or, or Shrimp and Grits?
Well, believe it or not, but South Africans eat something that is almost indistinguishable from grits. And NO, they didn't get the idea from American Southerners.
People from N.H. say HEAH for here.
Each region has its own accent and food specialties; that's NOT in question. OTOH, many foods/dishes, which some Southern FREEPERs assume are ONLY " Southern ", sare NOT and never have been, as I've proved in some of my earlier posts. :-)