When she was a child, she’d been taught things were simple. The War of Northern Aggression had been a barbaric invasion—an attack on the Southern way of life. Before everything went wrong, all the rich families who’d settled the land had been lifted up by God himself, who’d blessed them with good brains, excellent breeding, and a Puritan work ethic. The Black folks who’d toiled in their homes and on their farms—first for free, then for next to nothing—were every one of them lucky to be there. They were all so happy they danced and sang in the fields. Meanwhile, the poor whites who drank and
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