During our time in a small Tennessee town my wife has often spoken of the hate she feels in the air. I haven't felt it myself, but reading your lines has me recalling her words and mulling them over.
I’ve already seen and heard those attitudes expressed in the north: in my old hometown of Philly, in a picture from Marquette Park in Chicago and, perhaps most shamefully, a palefaced boar using our flag as a battering ram against an African-American man. You may know where this happened — BOSTON. My feeling about the north-south difference is mostly captured by a Herblock cartoon dated 3/12/1963. I think you can google it.