I think Americans generally love accents. Our media here isn't very diverse, so it's fun and exciting when you meet someone with a non-American based accent. I have no doubt that racism plays a part in the reactions he receives, but for the record, some of us just act like giddy idiots around accents, generally. (For those of us, we're staring at your mouth, while trying to think of something else to say, to keep you talking forever...if you're me, this means you're often unsuccessful and after an awkwardly long pause you just blurt out "I LOVE YOUR ACCENT").