In this tome the Northern narrator, Harold Edson, visits the American South with his college friend, Stanton White, in order to study first hand the social conditions of African Americans during the post-reconstruction era. Edson describes encounters with racist whites whose attacks on African Americans are vicious and unrepentant.
This narrative reflects primitive ideas about race that prevailed in the 19th century United States--above and below the Mason-Dixon--and a level of ignorance that, to a 21st century listener, may be difficult to fully appreciate. But in fact, many of the notions Hall visits in the text continue to echo today reminding us that race has always been a foundation upon which this country was built. (Summary by James K. White)
