the old lonesome pines at the end of the pasture.
This is addressed to everyone who is Southern born and raised-Do you think that there is a "black South" and a "white South"?
I ask that in all seriousness because I am a native Californian who lived down there three years in the Seventies I used to ponder that a lot.It seemed that in many ways race relations were healthier and more open in the South,unlike much of the North where you can live much of your life not seeing a black face if you are white.
HOWEVER,some things I saw still haunt me today-the after hours club in Beaumont,Texas where white men would go to party with young black women.The time outside Athens,Georgia when on a university affiliated field trip I walked into a white cop and a black cop pulling knives out on EACH OTHER.Observing a Klan rally in Metarie and watching dozens of cars going down Airline Highway spitting and cursing at two lone peaceful black protestors.The time at the Red Caboose restaurant when a large black woman held a steak knife to the neck of a young white teenager after he referred to her school as a "nigger school".The time a NOPD officer pulled a gun on me after a traffic stop and told me to"start running"after he checked my black companion's ID.
I still miss the South.There is a profound beauty and mystery about the region that still fascinates me today.Yet the above incidents and many others made me feel there is still a distinct difference in perspective depending on whether you are black or white.
Feedback please.