Following this conversation barely, and having been all over the South, I can definitively state that the South is clearly more racist than the West Coast and Northeast. People are more overt with than racism where people up north are covert about it. That's true. But the South (along with a couple spot in the Midwest) also has the most egregious examples of partisan gerrymandering, some of the worst and most racially selective prosecutors in the country (Louisiana might be the worst), and many of the people have internalized racist views that they don't even realize are racist. I'm not about to sit here and pretend that the South is still in the days of, "Watch out ******, the klan is getting bigger," but I'm also not going to pretend that it isn't overall the worst offender of racial prejudice.
With that said, places like Charlotte are on the rise and are, or will be great places for people of color. So the South has this weird dichotomy of having the most opportunities for people of color in many instances, but also being far from progressive-minded in many instances. If you're someone of color, you'd be better off in Charlotte or Nashville than you'd be in Boston in many instances.