I think it's a safe assumption that holding a camera contributed to this phenomenon.

If you're implying it's because he looks Chinese, you're right but not just because of racism. It's because no one who looks like that lived there.

There's a long history of southerners being taken advantage of. Do they not teach about carpet baggers and indentured servants anymore in school?

The idea that the victor is ever anything but perfect is rarely in history books. The history of Southern exploitation is heavily covered in Socialist literature, though.