[GirlySports]

The racism angle is easily understood, so I'll skip that.

The other part is simply regional pride. I think most people are proud of, or at least have some attachment to wherever we were born or grew up. If you're somewhere else and you run into someone from your hometown, it makes you happy and the two of you talk about things you have in common.

While the south seceded from the US and technically were traitors to the US, they were still citizens of those states. If you are today born in Virginia, you're a southerner. The confederates literally fought a war over being southerners. Yes, it was mostly about slavery, but regionalism was a factor as well. The vast majority of people who fought didn't own slaves. They fought because their home was at war.

Then you can add in the fact that the south has always been the poorer part of the country. Not as wealthy, fancy, or important as the north. If anything southern showed up on TV or in the movies, it was mostly likely being mocked. That creates a pretty deep sense of F-You to the rest of the country. Those roots run deep.