Ebbie, it is true that attitudes differ between the North and South- my wife is from central Georgia, and I have lived and worked in parts of it. One feels the different pace and attitudes; what you call "warmth and vitality" that are not as easily found in the North nor parts of the West. A reserve? dunno what to call it, but the feel of the North and the people is different. There is also a conservatism that differs from that of the North. Hard to express these differences. I am not referring to places like Atlanta, which in many ways no longer feels southern.

What I was attempting to bring out is that employment, mobility, income type and relationships between income levels and race are not what they were 50 years, or even 30 years ago. I was first exposed to rural Georgia in the 1950s; the change has been tremendous.

(Just noticed I capitalized North and South- yes, a difference is still evident to me).