I grew up in the South. As a Sailor in the U.S. Navy, I lived all over America and travelled the world. I returned to the South when I retired.
Southerners have learned to live together, no matter the race, religion, or ethnic background.
Most areas outside of the Southeastern United States have yet to figure out how to accomplish that.
And y’all call US hicks...
I grew up is Southern California in the 1970s. I knew a few black guys who were bussed in to our HS from downtown LA. They were OK guys but seemed to have a big chip on their shoulder.
Whites and Hispanics interacted daily and did not recognize any difference or hostility. But blacks basically kept to themselves in a sort of brooding way. Not a friendly bunch and most people just tried to avoid them, not out of any hostility but because they just seemed angry all the time.
In the late 80s I moved to Georgia for two years and I was immediately impressed with how different the blacks were compared to the ones in LA I grew up with.
They would treat you like you were one of them not as some "white" guy. Very friendly and would laugh and joke with you without the unspoken tension as seemed ever present in SO CAL.
Whatever to South is doing it seems to work better than the rest of the country.