Which is fascinating, because plenty of Northern states to this day remain upwards of 90% white.

There is nothing inherently wrong with an area being overwhelmingly white, but it makes absoutlely 0 sense in the context of American history. Black people were brought here by whites, meaning that we've been here just as long as them. It doesn't make sense that Black people are still concentrated in the South, not unless there were forces actively keeping them out of the North.

Once the slaves were freed, we should have expected every Northern state to open their arms and absorb/integrate black people into their communities. As we know, that absolutely did NOT happen. In fact, the opposite happened - many states actively and aggressively opposed black migration/integration and passed tons of nasty legislation.

I think a key part of the issue is the tendency to view the North and South as 'opposites' rather than different variations of the same dominant culture. The North wanted to stop slavery because they thought that black people (and by extension their labor) had an overall degrading influence on white American society. Of course there were a few sects of people who truly viewed slavery for the sin it was, but that view is NOT representative of the North.

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts on the matter! I really like your writing style, and enjoy the frankness you approach the subject with.

The opinion we hold isn't popular, which is ironic considering it's mostly disliked by people who should be open to constructive feedback regarding historically sensitive topics.