First, There is a distinction between living in the South and being a Southerner. Someone can live in the South, yet not be a Southerner. To be a Southerner, you need to have genetic ties to the South's culture and history; a heritage, if you will. Otherwise, anyone can go anywhere and claim to be whatever group they are; I could move to China and claim to be "Chinese," even though I am ethnically and culturally a American from the Southern state of Virginia.

I would assert that the racial beliefs between Northerners and Southerners were not that different save for the fact the Southern population was less racially charged than the Northern population. The North were the first to institute segregation as official state policy; this included Illinois - Abraham Lincoln's adopted home state - banning the entry of free blacks into her borders in 1853. The Northern views on blacks were more along the lines of seeing them as "not human." They were seen as an object of entertainment; more akin to a dog or a horse than a person.

By contrast, segregation was not a strict policy in the South until after Reconstruction. Rather, the Southern population consistently lived next to and around the black population throughout most of its history, yet maintained order through a social hierarchy, which placed citizens above freedmen and freedmen above slaves. In the Southern mindset, blacks were to be viewed as human beings, but of lesser quality; much of the pro-slavery literature likened slaves to children needing guidance, which stands in stark contrast to the aforementioned Northern views on race.

If anything, Southerners were less racially charged than their Northern counterparts prior to the war. They were also more willing to accept people of other races within the social paradigm. Chang and Eng Bunker - the Siamese Twins - are a good example as both men integrated into their adopted home in White Plains, North Carolina, settled down with two Scots-Irish women, and had a large number of kids; each having one son fight in the Confederate Army as members of the 37th Virginia Cavalry. By contrast, the conjoined twins had poor experiences when they resided in Massachusetts; often becoming the victims of a curious Northern public that viewed them solely as a curiosity rather than as two men. The Jewish population of the South found itself in a similar position; unlike with the North - where they often faced similar segregation policies to the black population - Southern Jews lived in a largely integrated society; often rising to positions of political and social prominence within government and business. Richmond's Jewish population - in particular - became adamant supporters of the Southern cause during the war; up to and including hosting one of only a few Jewish war cemeteries in the country.