The Battle of Hayes Pond and Dem Southern Accents

 This Tweet and video is making the rounds on Twitter today:

As a legislator, I don't play politics. I study, listen, and vote my conscience. Those values are absent in Washington today and it's tearing us apart.

I'm running as a Democrat to represent #NC09 in the U.S Congress and finally mend our divided spirits. pic.twitter.com/zE12XZIE9r

— Charles Graham (@CharlesGrahamNC) October 4, 2021

Graham is well spoken, and the video is powerful. And I am embarrassed to say that not only did I not know about the Battle of Hayes Pond, I don't even know there was a Lumbee tribe in North Carolina. So I searched a bit, and found this video of a woman describing her participation in that battle: 

 

While her story is interesting, what I find absolutely fascinating is her accent. Listen to the way she says "the" and "they" - it's 'de' and 'day'. I've never heard any southerner do that. I thought that was a big northern city thing, or maybe eastern Canadian. Her "paper" is 'papuh', and "pistol" is "pistuh'. Again, I've never heard that in the south. 

I've never studied linguistics, so I'm only going on my experience and ear. My ear says that Charles Graham speaks what I call 'Standard Southern'. He sounds like my grandfather, who grew up in central Florida. (Maybe that's part of why I found the video powerful). My grandmother spoke what I call 'Alabama Southern', with a much heavier drawl. 

What is Verdia Locklear's accent? My ear has no idea.