The East Coast was the "old money" and took its idea of culture largely from England.
The difficulty with having American racism like Rome's (or the UK's) is that "right of conquest" is supposed to be proof of superiority, and without a massive political empire America is not in the same league. On the other hand, America's financial control of world economies doesn't lend itself to anything like a racial superiority - and the "capitalism is God's way" mentality is taking some hits right now as China makes her moves (I know conspiracy theories are frowned upon here but I don't think China's current world economic moves are random or reactive, they are up to something big, just like a big company will implement strategies).
Incidentally, I don't think Rome had anything that relates to "racism" beyond the class superiority of the Patricians. The UK, on the other hand, had a paternalistic racism that did nevertheless allow for individuals of any race to rise high. Ian Fleming's Live and Let Die has a little speech on the subject.