I'm well over 70 and remember both worlds. My youth was spent up north but since we had family in the South, I well recall what it was like in the 1950s when we'd head down to Dixie to visit with our kin.
Up north, the blacks (then called Negroes in that era) always seemed to be simmering with resentment with a perpetual chip on the shoulder. Even then, I could see the precursor of the thug culture taking shape, leading to the hateful knock-out "game" of black gangs against an innocent white today.
In the South, yes even in spite of the Jim Crow laws, what were known as the "colored folks" (not much different from the "people of color" terminology of today) had strong family values, ran prosperous businesses, attended church regularly and were evidently happy as they interacted with whites. Good manners were the rule of the day with "sir" and "ma'am" part of the natural vocabulary, both black and white.
I think the longtime historic absence of labor unions (a largely Yankee invention) in the South contributed to the racial harmony. Far worse than any Jim Crow law, unionism breeds hatred ownership and employees. And to this day, the South is the region where freedom and liberty are rule as this map so clearly illustrates:
And kudos to those northern states that have come aboard with what the South has known all along: Unionism is slavery.