I don't know what years she's talking about, but -- this comes from someone who's always lived in Boston -- it sounds as if she grew up in a nice suburb and never went into Boston or any of the bigger cities (lots of suburbanites sneered at Boston and avoided it). By the 70s, the black population of Boston was only about 20% (not sure about the other cities), and blacks in MA were still concentrated in the cities -- in Boston, in particular parts of the city.
My late mil, who lived and died in MS always said that the South was better able to recover after the turmoil of the early 60's and the end of segregation because more people in the South actually knew, and some loved black people. Granted, many of these relationships were of a employer/employee nature, but there was respect already there, so it was easier to accept the idea of equality under the law and in basic society.