Believe it or not, when I first got to North Dakota (on a National Science Foundation full ride to do Uranium geochemistry research), most of the locals knowledge of people with a southern accent stemmed from the
Dukes of Hazard and the
Beverly Hillbillies.
It was indeed an uphill battle.
I watched Johnny Carson and learned to speak "no accent" American so I could conduct basic transactions and not be treated like someone who had an IQ in the single digits. F'n Yankee media.
But to have someone who claims to be a Virginian say this? Maybe he needs to watch a season or two of
Green Acres so he can be better versed in rural southern life.
