Bill Bryson tends to write for a UK audience, and his take on his native USA can be quite interesting....

He said there is a huge difference between the north and south. (Very general, very stereotyping..)

In the south, racism is normalised but black and white live next to each other.

In the north, racism is abhorred but black and white live in different districts.

I used to spend about three months a year living in The USA, various places, and to be honest, racism didn't seem any better or worse than over here from a daya to day perspective. The rich v poor was far more evident, and yes, a majority of blacks are poor and the majority of the rich are white. Prison population statistics are telling mind....