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From the Washington Post's article about Molly:
"Both her parents were Republicans,* but she rebelled early. Her liberal bent sprang from the same root that nurtures most Southern liberals: race. "Once you figure out they are lying to you about race, you start to question everything," she wrote."
Once you figure out they are lying to you about race, you start to question everything.
Mrs. V.'s questioning actually began well before this incident: She and some friends were crying at church the morning of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in 1963. Mrs. V. was eleven years old. A deacon walked by and saw them crying and said, "Don't know what y'all are so upset over, it was only four little nigger girls." You can imagine the impact this would have on a child who has already begun to question everything.
Mrs. V. is more liberal than I am; no doubt this has something to do with it. I had no such formative experience.
RIP, Molly.
* Mrs. V.'s are not, but she grew up Southern Baptist, in Eastern Tennessee.
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