Appalachia is very different than the rest of the south, much less rural areas in other parts of the country. It was populated by Scots-Irish herders, versus say German farmers in the rural midwest.

Appalachian culture is extremely insular, even with respect to other white people. I once had a conversation with a (white) guy who had married into a family in Appalachian Kentucky. Folks in town regarded him as an outsider even after a decade of living there.