Bobert,

For what it is worth, I have observed blacks and whites getting along much better in Phenix City, Alabama, Columbus, Georgia and Wilmington, North Carolina than I did in southern and central Ohio.

In the past I have attributed that to the fact that the races had been together longer in the South. I am not so sure of that now. For one thing, the specific histories of the southern towns I have lived in give more compelling reasons, for another, it is too small a sample to generalize. On the other hand, I have seen enough of the North and the South to firmly believe that manners are generally better, in public at least, in the stores, restaurants, high tech workplaces and hotels, in the South.