Dying for Dixie

This particular chapter in the novel was difficult to read. Perhaps I have been too sheltered, but I could never imagine the kind of racial turmoil that was described in Guthrie. Both sides, the blacks and the white confederates, had so much hatred and pride that it was hard to digest. To have the nerve, regardless of the reason, to display a confederate flag in front of a group of black people is disgusting. While some there were people who claimed that Michael just liked the color and it matched his truck, it is hard for me to believe that somebody who was from that area could truly not know the implications of the Confederate flag. Maybe it doesn't boil down to not understanding the implications of what the Confederate flag means to the black race that bothers me so much. Perhaps it is the blatant disregard for the implications of what that flag means that bothers me the most. And on another note, while I can understand the pain that Freddie may have felt from seeing the flag and the racial slur used against him, to take the life of another person over it is not acceptable. Everything that occured because of the shooting did not seem acceptable at all. An tragic event that occurred was exploited for the advancement of the KKK and other white supremists. The transformation of Westermen from an ignorant redneck to a full fledged Confederate, another one lost for the war that is still going on is beyond dispicable in my eyes. Guthrie seems like a town boiling with racial tension and agendas just waiting to be let loose for the sake of protecting the life of the Confederacy. For protecting and further perpetuating ignorance, violence, propaganda.....everything ugly that racism has to offer.

Guthrie is not a normal time. It is hard for me to think that Horowitz could have skewed the town to make it Guthrie appear as something else.....

This chapter was difficult.