I'm a Yankee who lived in the South for 14 years. When I was in my early 20s, I had a good friend and neighbor, an old man, who called me "Yankee Boy". That didn't stop him from giving me total permission to hunt and fish his land, ride his horses or just visit any time. When my dog was ready to whelp her pups, he showed up with a brood box for her. Occasionally, I'd come home and find a jug of "Shine" on the back porch.
I did have a run-in with the KKK. A really good friend, a black guy I worked with and I were going to college together nights. I came home one night to meet a half dozen of them on my lawn They demanded to know why I was riding around with a nigger in the front seat of my car. I told them it was my right to choose my friends, and I'd kill anyone who interferred. I haven't a clue why it worked, but I was never bothered again. It may have been the 12 ga. pump in my hands.
Today, I have many friends and relatives all the way from South Jersey (the Northern Most of the Southern States) thru Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida. I don't know if it is recorded here on this forum, but Princeton New Jersey's university lost an equal number of men in the Union and Confederate armies. My wife is a Florida Cracker. As is my best friend and hunting buddy, Wayne. Another Wayne, Florida cracker, a Navy Lt. and I hunted and fished together for four years....every chance we got.
I really miss the South, the friends there and the salt water. However, I cherish my privacy and independence here on my 120 acres on da U.P.
Yankee Boy
Pete