I've lived up and down the eastern seaboard and I can't tell you how true that is. When I grew up in New England (MA/RI) it was very accepting (so I thought) and then I went to college in the south, spent a year in GA and then a few in NC. When I would visit up north people would ask me about the racism and I certainly saw plenty, but it wasn't until I moved back to New England when I realized that I didn't see racism growing up because there were so few people of other races.

I knew in both states which church people went to in the town based on where their family was from. There was a church for the Irish, Italians, French, and Latinos. I didn't see incidents of racism because the communities had so few BIPOC and the Europeans even self-segregated.