Dispatches from Pluto: Lost and Found in the Mississippi Delta

by Richard Grant

A kind of affectionate racism prevailed among the Delta gentry. They had kind, paternalistic feelings toward black people and a genuine appreciation for black culture, but they didn’t want a black man dating their daughters or sitting down to eat dinner at their table, because that wasn’t the way things were done, or meant to be.

“Do you think poverty makes love hard to do?” “Love is hard to do, period. I’m talking about deep, true, long-lasting love. Women in my community aren’t focused on that.