"There was to be a cross-burning in our neighborhood that night"....

[Aristus]

23. I wish I could claim such heroes in my family.

My mother (who was born in Montgomery) had two uncles who were in the Klan. When she got engaged to my father, they wanted to take him out one night "to meet the boys", they said.

As they were walking with him out to the car, he saw a pair of shotguns lying across the back seat. My mother tells me my dad did a kind of "Ooh! Look at the time!" and beat feet out of there.

Not participating was the extend of heroism in that case...