I think you’re mistaking self-awareness in VanZants sense of southern pride and conflicting knowledge of the south’s troubled history with an intentional caricaturization .

The song was certainly written in response to Young , as Van Zant thought Neil had been too broad. However, he obviously was aware that Neil had a point, so walking the line between pointing out Neil’s generalization (as Van Zant saw it) while expressing pride was difficult and I think, ultimately too difficult a challenge.