My brother, long a racist Northerner, moved to Atlanta 8 years ago and became even more racist after moving there. He regularly refers to Cynthia McKinney as "that crazy nigger bitch". While visiting last summer, I found his language tame compared to some of his well-heeled, wealthy & well educated local friends I've met.

Their language, as Rick Fielding has pointed out, is not at all unusual, depending on who is within earshot, what the social setting is, etc. This is the language I heard repeatedly as a Northern guest at a backyard suburban Atlanta barbeque.