What is "Middle America"?

[Docere]

Obviously there's no official definition, but does the Lower Midwest come to mind when you hear the term?

Middle America is a colloquial term for the United States heartland, especially the culturally rural and suburban areas of the United States, typically the Lower Midwestern region of the country, which consists of Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Downstate Illinois.

Middle America is generally used as both a geographic and cultural label, suggesting a Central United States small town or suburb that is equidistant from most parts of the country, has a temperate climate, where most people speak with a General American accent, are middle class or upper middle class, Evangelical or Mainline Protestant, and typically European Americans or of general Northern European descent, particularly Anglo-Saxon Protestant, Ulster Scot, or Germanic descent

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle...(United_States)

[pdxtex]

Ohio.

[lio45]

“Heartland” would be Ohio, it’s heart-shaped and is also where the heart would be, geographically.

[mhays]

I'd include most of the Midwest (including the Plains) and South outside the big and/our touristy places.

[SIGSEGV]

Peoria

[Steely Dan]

We should probably ask Jack & Diane.

[bnk]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

Peoria

I was going to say that.


At least that was the term 30-40 years ago.

Not sure if it still applies today.


But the saying was "if it plays in Peoria...." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_it_play_in_Peoria%3F

But that was a long time ago. We are dating ourselves using the generic Peoria in this day in and age I think.








Peoria as test market

In the United States, Peoria has long been seen as a prototypical American city because of its representative demographics and its Midwestern culture, which is commonly perceived as mainstream. As a result, it has traditionally been one of the country's leading test markets. In the 1980s and '90s, comedians like Sam Kinison and musicians such as Bob Dylan, Robert Plant, Metallica and Phil Collins all perfected and launched concert tours in Peoria. During presidential campaigns, major TV networks would visit Peoria to gauge the response of everyday Americans on national issues and political candidates.

However, demographic changes have made the city less representative of America as a whole, and therefore less attractive as a test market.

[camel crush]

https://citationsneeded.libsyn.com/e...hite-grievance

“We need a president whose vision was shaped by the American Heartland rather than the ineffective Washington politics,” declares presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg. “AOC Kills Jobs Middle America Would Love to Have,” proclaims The Washington Examiner. Amy Klobuchar insists she’s a “voice from the heartland,” while The Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin tells us, “[Bernie Sanders] is not going to sell in Middle America. You have to WIN Middle America.”

Everywhere we turn in American political discourse, the terms “Heartland” and “Middle America” are thrown around as shorthand for “everyday” men and women somewhere between the Atlantic Ocean to the East, Pacific to the West--homespun people who are supposedly insufficiently represented in media and Beltway circles. Those evoking their status presumably are interjecting these true Americans otherwise overlooked needs into the conversation.

But terms like “Heartland” and “Middle America” are not benign or organic terms that emerged from the natural course of sociological explanation, they are deliberate political PR products of the 1960s, emerging in parallel with a shift from explicit racism into coded racism. Their primary function is to express a deference to and centering of whiteness as a post-civil rights political project.

On this episode, we explore the origins of the terms “Middle America” and “Heartland,” what they mask and reveal, why they’re still used today and how conversations about “whiteness” as a political ideology would benefit greatly from clarity, rather than relying on code words to vaguely allude to the subject of political “whiteness,” while still trying to obfuscate it.

Our guest is Professor Kristin Hoganson of the University of Illinois.

[Docere]

If one picked a state that most closely represented the demographics of the US it would probably be Illinois. Though it's more urbanized than the average state.

[202_Cyclist]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

We should probably ask Jack & Diane.

Two American kids doing the best they can

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by Docere

If one picked a state that most closely represented the demographics of the US it would probably be Illinois. Though it's more urbanized than the average state.

nah its ohio as they have a wider range of cities not so dominated by any one major city that tips all those demo stats you might find. heart of it all as they say.

[202_Cyclist]

I think it was on this site where someone said the Midwest is the most useless geographic term there is-- it stretches from the Denver suburbs to Pittsburgh.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

Two American kids doing the best they can

columbus used to have this monthly art hop on the short north and one time in the early 90s a gallery had these john cougar mellencamp paintings up and so they had an opening party on art hop night and of course invited him.

so the coug drove in from indiana, well someone drove him in, they circled the block and nope — then drove straight back to indiana without going in. i dk why i got such a kick out of that at the time, but i thought it was pretty funny.

and so the other two c’s don’t feel left out —
let’s not forget this early homerpalooza tour classic —

• Video Link

[Boisebro]

The letter ‘r’.

[sopas ej]

Middle America is generally used as both a geographic and cultural label, suggesting a Central United States small town or suburb that is equidistant from most parts of the country, has a temperate climate, where most people speak with a General American accent

Say what now? I feel like "Middle America" has very distinct, non-standard American accents. Some of the vowels!

[mhays]

One definition would be anywhere drive-throughs and Applebees exist.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by mhays

One definition would be anywhere drive-throughs and Applebees exist.

Brooklyn?

[mhays]

Anywhere drive-throughs are prevalent, we might have to consider that!

[202_Cyclist]

Originally Posted by mhays

Anywhere drive-throughs are prevalent, we might have to consider that!

Actually, anywhere where there are more Cracker Barrels than Whole Foods.

https://medium.com/@michael_hendrix/...l-4361cb9b1e5f

[eschaton]

I always interpreted the term "Middle America" to be about a socio-economic class, or some platonic ideal of America, rather than actually describing a real geographic location.