Hi Cowtipper,
I suspect most stereotypes come from watching the TV, whether it's comedies, movies or politicians. Certainly the stereotype of southerners is that they are all rednecks - Dubya didn't do anything to dispel that one ! Nor did all the people from Texas and Oklahoma that I worked with for 7 years when I worked for Halliburton - they were unfailingly rednecks. Most were nice people though as long as you avoided politics...