I am a southerner.
I have lived in three states. I was born in GA and lived there until I went to college. I attended a college in TN. For a brief period after college I lived in SC (which is way different from the other two). I returned to TN and have lived here for the last 40 something years.
The local East TN accent is very different from the GA I knew as a child. I think of it as a mountain accent more than southern. I have in the past felt a sense of comfort from a soft well- spoken southern voice. Yes, I do enjoy dialect and am not bothered by common use of local words. In formal (you know like education, business and politics), I expect the person to sound informed, dignified and reasonable. Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton can sound southern without sounding ignorant.
I heard Rex Tillerson on the radio today, his accent made me cringe. He just sounds like a southern good ole boy and they do not belong representing us to the rest of the world.
I am angry about a lot of things that Trump is doing but ruining southern accents for me was added today. And Dear God in Heaven there will be Sessions.
