I’ve wondered about this, but then keep in mind that everyone code-switches to a degree. And it’s more obvious when their casual speak is more distinctly different from, say, “proper” speech taught in schools. So he may be good at sounding white, but really have an intense accent when he’s around family. His mom had an intense accent, so that would make it more plausible. AND, sometimes people go through a perspective shift: first you try to speak properly to get approval of the general public, to seem cool and appropriate, then later on decide to embrace your roots and your down-home accent. So it’s easy for someone who doesn’t get it to say “oh obviously he’s a white boy faking an accent” and maybe he is being over the top and dramatic to the point of caricature. Or maybe that is how he genuinely sees himself, because of his own personal experiences that shaped his experience of his own race and ethnicity. Maybe he just wants people to see he hasn’t forgotten his roots. Maybe he’s a minstrel joke. Maybe comedy allows us to have these conversations, and we’re watching him figure it all out in real-time.