I used to live in a tiny town in South Carolina (what was I thinking???) and in my experience - the racism is alleviated by the genuine friendliness and curiosity, at least if you are Asian. If your car breaks down, rednecks will stop to help. When I wore clothes from India vs. my normal blue jeans, people were MORE friendly and kind.

All that being said - I would not want to be a black person in those areas, unless my family had been in that town for generations. If they know your family, it's fine. If they don't... they are much more likely to hold deep-seated prejudices towards black people.