White wasn't better, it turned out, or smarter. Just richer. Still richer. Always richer.

I was young and stupid. I did not see limitations because of my race or my sex or my nationality. I didn't see limitations at all. Kids never do until they learn them.

The rest of the world points an angry finger at the South. The rest of the world sees the cinders only in the eyes of southerners. The rest of the world refuses to see the soot in its own eyes.The South, in attitude and in effect, is probably not much worse than the North--only in degree and display. It's simply that the South has always been honest about its hatred and its prejudice. Northern intolerance has been subtle, therefore more pernicious and snaring.

Perhaps in a way, then, the kindly old South is responsible for the violent present we have inherited. Since the founding of the republic the South has dictated and defined us. Perhaps the South, more even than the wild wild West, more in fact than any other region, is responsible for who we are as a people and as a nation. Since the very beginning the South has compromised us.

How are the white folks treating you?" He looked at me and sneered."This is Alabama, son," he said, though he seemed younger than I. "How do you think they're treating us?