Especially ever since I moved south (GA and AL), I have come to see "niceness" often as a cover for lack of kindness and actual respect for others. Gov. Kay Ivey of AL has an ad about running for governor again where she talks about not saying anything if you can't be nice then says what she thinks of President Biden by being silent for 15 second. However, the kicker is she ends with "God Bless Joe" and everyone in the South knows that "God Blessing" someone with a grin isn't being kind.