This lines up exactly what I've heard from Southern friends.
Like you said, I've heard that despite the reputation and history of the South, there is a lot more racial integration in day to day life than most parts of America.
And yes, it irks me to no end to hear whites from big coastal cities (who rarely ever interact with blacks) shit all over the South (most of them who have never been there).
I've lived mostly in Memphis, TN metro area in West Tennessee and Northern Mississippi dealing with lots of people. I corroborate that most of us don't care about your race in the least. More about treating people with respect and doing one's job well. Biases are usually residual ones operating unconsciously or barely there outside of straight racists. More likely to show up in negative situations where a person mentally assesses another to understand how it happens & assign blame to something.
As another comment said, though, the sides feel so strongly about that topic of race that bringing it up can have negative consequences in a big way for simplest opinion. They're more likely here to get irritated and dismiss you as an idiot than anything. Maybe shout counter-points at you. Both sides. You have to be in the black ghettos or deep, white, rural areas before it gets dangerous. Still more likely to intimidate you into leaving than hurt you but you take chances there.
Things only heated up recently with the BLM protests. They shut down the main Interstate and airport in Memphis recently. Pissed everyone off in a city with lots of white and black fans of 2nd Amendment. Anxiety & tension is high but no violence I think. A testament in itself, yeah? Hopefully the crap is over soon so race relations & traffic conditions go back to normal. Except I-240 where the speed is about the same. :)
Like you said, I've heard that despite the reputation and history of the South, there is a lot more racial integration in day to day life than most parts of America.
And yes, it irks me to no end to hear whites from big coastal cities (who rarely ever interact with blacks) shit all over the South (most of them who have never been there).