We've been hearing more southern US accents in the news, even announcers and news readers (including several recent presidents), so maybe they're becoming more popular and accepted. My favorite is the Virginia accent. It's so smooth and soft, slow and easy. I think it takes the best of both yankee and southern accents.

I read somewhere that the southern accents owe a great debt to the speech of African Americans (who also cared for many white children). Maybe that cross-cultural, mmmmm, hybrid vigor, is what I find so attractive.