I had one grandma born in GA who never added sugar to her mix, my other grandma from MS always added a little, and a dozen aunts and cousins (either born on the migrations to TX or after they got here) were all somewhere inbetween.
I like both ... but which I make mainly depends on what I'm eating with it, and the mood I'm in at the time. If it's going to be eaten fresh, or split and toasted, with enough sweet butter to require an angiogram the next morning ... sweet, also like sweet with split peas and hamhocks. Blacked eye peas can go either way - but with bitter greans I lean to sweet. For red beans and rice, or a big bowl of chili - not sweet.