SHELBY FOOTE  

When Jimmy Carter was elected, my Mother rationalized “…Well – at least we now have one who doesn’t have an accent.”

Recently I have spent some time watching interviews with the late Shelby Foote.  I particularly liked the graduation ( “commencement”) address.   Shelby’s voice MADE the Burns’ PBS series on the Civil War. 

All Southern Americans wrestle with the race issue.  Mr. Foote is a peer of great delta writers.  All have dealt with the past. Or tried to.  

The link below, beginning at about minute twelve, caught my attention.   The moderator, who is Black,  solicits  Mr. Foote’s comments on the issue.   

Almost with deep anguish Shelby started with “…it is difficult to talk about”, or a similar “…you had to know what it was like back then.”

As if talking to himself. he tried to defend his beloved South while unable to justify the horrors. 

And admits the history will never justified: