Hi cleverjewishpun and Raphael Kaufman.
Of course much of this is subjective. But, I still feel the “deep south” is historically then, and still now, more hostile to Jews, among others, than the rest of the country, in general.
There used to be a famous Jewish radio guy I used to listen to in the car. You may have heard of Barry Farber.
He told a true story in a light-hearted, friendly way about his travels in the south, as a Jewish radio celebrity.
He said that one time he came across a very nice, much older couple who showed a good deal of southern hospitality when they went to meet him at a book signing.
They said they listened to him for years, politely invited him over for dinner, saying they would be honored, and he accepted.
As they all sat down to eat, the sweet, innocent older lady declared, “Barry, because you are Jewish, we are not having any pork for dinner. So, instead, I made us a nice ham.”
lol..