BTW, Martin, Jews have been living in, and making important contributions to the US South since before there was a United States:

"The congregation Mickve Israel was the first synagogue established in the state of Georgia. The synagogue was founded by forty-two Jewish settlers who had arrived in Savannah from London on July 11, 1733. This establishment was created only five months after James Ogelthorpe founded the new colony in Georgia. In 1790, the state of Georgia granted the congregation a charter, confirming that the synagogue was the third oldest Jewish congregation in the United States."

Congregation Mickve Israel Synagogue