My brother in law, who is a priest, went to the Seminary with Clarence Thomas, who was a couple of years below him. Clarence complained once about the racist attitudes of some of the white Seminarians from the North and Midwest. My b-i-l told him that it had nothing to do with being black, it was just that he was from the South. Apparently ALL the Southern seminarians were treated that way because the others made no distinction between white and black Southerners.
The ghetto-speak thing is confusing, though, because some in the ghetto crowd sound like black southerners, and some sound like they're from the Bronx or something!
Having an "ethnic" or "regional" accent is one thing. Talking like a two-bit thug is quite another.
Thats because the North (think the outer boroughs and suburbs of New York) and the upper midwest (think Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit) have traditionally been VERY segregated with few interracial relationships of any kind. Don't let the blueness of their voting habits fool you.
Many in the 'ghetto crowd' are from the South. In fact, much of the most popular rap today is 'dirty South' rap. In fact, many are as proud of being from the South and hate New York so much to put some of the more outspoken southron FReepers to shame. Don't underestimate the nothern snobbery when coming to 'accents' though.