It's honestly pretty tragic that traitors and racists so poisoned southern culture that it effectively killed an accent by association.
I would've liked a world where the south abandoned its confederate and slavery past and instead embraced the parts of southern culture worth salvaging. Instead we got Jim Crow and all that false reality coping "sOutH wIlL rIsE aGaIn" bullshit.
I agree, the region has great food, fascinating environments, and some interesting culture, but the civil war and the conservative movement really did a number down there.