Racism is alive and well in the North, thank you very much. The vast majority of Northerners didn't really want voting rights for blacks from the 1880s-1950s.
What?! You can't be serious.
What I meant was that between the stronger and more discrimination-centered racism in the south, and the resentment toward the north from Reconstruction, 13-15th amendments, etc (as pointed out by RWC), had given southerners a sense of that Segregation is what they needed to do, both to keep out blacks, and to send a message of rebellion to those darn northerners.
