Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

A little rain did fall, and more is expected tonight. Our poor parched plants are drinking it in. It's a good day to finish my book, the new Grisham, which is a sequel to A Time to Kill. As usual, he tackles important issues of justice, this time the incareration of junviles and the strange laws around them in two states, Texas and Mississippi. But Mississippi is protrayed much more harshly than in the previous book, and it looks like the south, and its culture, has gotten to Grisham. It is not an attractive place to live. The violence and racism is endemic, and though not directly addressed, it does not paint a pretty picture. You find yourself rooting for Jake, the protagonist, to pack up and leave. I think all of us who once lived in the south are re-evaluating what that culture was and still is, to some extent, and the subtle, not just the obvious harm does to its inhabitants. We see situations more clearly as we get older, and we've read more and now understand how ugly the culture was is many respects. But seeing clearly is the first step in changing hearts and minds for the better, and these truths have to be faced.