If you're too fat, you can't buy a purse; if you've got too much hair, you can't use the restroom. Does nobody teach you can't judge a book by its cover anymore?
Guys with beards make me nervous. I would be wary too.
So, Jase laughed it off even though hill billies have been the butt of jokes and discriminated against as stupid, lazy, and dirty for decades.
He sounds to me like a person who knows who he is and doesn't need anyone else's permission to feel good about himself.
I think that comes from being willing to forgive others when they make a mistake rather than holding a grudge for every slight that comes your way.
I try to be like Jase. I wish more people did.