Your first comment started with race so please spare me the theatrics of your backpedaling. That being said structural educational differences are the main reason for the disparity. Am I saying white Southerners are less literate than white northerners? Absolutely yes.

The South as a whole ranks near the bottom of every education metric. The South sans Florida of course but we don’t really accept Florida as the South anyways. The same could and is said about Black Southerners and Northerners. Its simply based off of the education they receive.

You said you’d be surprised if I wasn’t white because as a white person you feel like you would know more about Southern whites. Ironically you’re telling a Southerner than you know more about the South than I do. You’re telling someone who interacts with Southern Whites that something connects you more to them having never lived with them that makes you more aware of who they are.

What makes you different than Bob from Mississippi? Bob cant use a computer. Bob barely has internet.

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=6011c184972647e59f428b4bdacd2d3e