I agree, and I think it's unfair. lol. There's a definitely divide betwen urban people and rural people, and I'm not talking politics here.

Urban people all have to get along in a shared space. They don't wave and say "howdy' every time they pass on the street because they'd go hoarse within an hour. Rural people tend not to encounter as many people.

Rural people recognize that strangers being around is much more likely to be bad news. Help is also farther away. So there's a tendency for a culture of self-reliance, and suspicion of outsiders.

If you know someone rural, there's a good chance they'd give you the shirt off their back if you needed help and they were able to help. People have to help each other, there's nobody else that can.

In an urban environment, we're more used to being able to have social safety nets - even if we largely don't in the US - and being able to call someone to help someone in need.

So I think a lot of the reputation is undeserved. Good people and bad people everywhere.

I do think the fascist figured out that the rural folks were easier to manipulate, although they do try to manipulate everyone.

But anyway. lol.

Certainly the food of the South is generally fantastic. And it should count toward honest US cuisine. People don't consider it to be haute cuisine, so they downplay it - but consistently people outside the US who come and try it love it. lol.

And then you get into places like Louisiana and Cajun and Creole, for example, and there's a whole other little world of delightful things.

It's wild to me because as Americans we tend to take pride in far too many things we shouldn't, and yet we are down on ourselves about our food that is legitimately awesome.

I mean, take pizza and burgers - the ideas came from elsewhere, but we made both of those things our own. They are fully American in the way they're presented to the point that it is generally our version of those things that has spread back around the world (and then locally enhanced and changed in places). lol.

But that's just how it goes. Curry went from India to Britain, and then when it went fro Britain to Japan, they call it "English curry". And now I buy "Japanese curry" (S&B brand) because I love it and love the Japanese "English" curry that came from India. lol.