To the extent this is true [not just different] it is because, happy history or not, the populace shares a history. That makes them more apt to cooperate and to get along with each other. I have also found that southerners are quite willing to accept outsiders once they've shown that they do not intend to remain outsiders.
My favorite part of the article, however, had to do with the attempt at community organization.
A few years ago we held a neighborhood block party, just about every ethnicity in So Cal was involved. City blocked off the street and we had kids drawing chalk pictures and running RC cars all over the place.
Right up until the mexican families (2) who had not taken part despite being invited decided to move the street barriers and drive in and out repeatedly.
Thankfully, they departed fairly soon after and I have a good mexican-American neighbor.
Today the nonparticipants are filipino [second generation in US and by no measure needy].
" The south has much..much better race relations than the north..."
To the extent this is true [not just different]
Oh yeah..it's true. You could feel the relief of tension down here. Now this was the 1978-1982 period and racial tensions might have been extraordinary at that time in the north. One thing that struck me right off was how many more mixed couples there were. You almost never saw that where I lived in the north. Also the young people were hanging out together. You never saw that in the north. I've lived here a long time now and don't know if it's ever gotten better in the north.