Stars Fell on Alabama

I've just finished reading this book by Carl Carmer. Published in 1934, and written by a transient Yankee professor, it gives a glimpse into all sorts of areas of the old South. Some of which I'm not very proud :-( It's so hard to imagine that some of these things went on, as I was raised by parents who were/are not prejudiced according to race. My parents taught us that ALL are made in the image of God and are to be treated with respect. We had a few workers that my mother had hired. A lovely sewing lady. A wonderful yardman, who shuffled in his denim overalls and whom I could hardly understand. A lady who cleaned and did some cooking. And we treated them all respectfully. So, like I said, it's hard to imagine these stories of ill-treatment. But they are there. They are true. And it's shameful. Carmer wrote these stories as he traveled the back roads of Alabama, and it made me homesick. There are plenty of good stories mixed in with the bad ones. Stories of old families, how areas were settled, folk stories, brer rabbit stories that you've never seen or heard. Stories of traveling along the dirt roads. I could truly picture it all...the bright red dirt/clay, the kudzu covering old weather-beaten houses that are built up on pillars of stones for their foundations. The humidity so thick you could drink the air. Yes, in spite of the "hard" stories, I was homesick.