"Good afternoon!" I bowed to Vanna ... who ignored me ... perhaps not
seeing me.
The fearful, hurt look in the negro girl's eyes made me so ashamed of
myself that I wanted to run away and hide forever somewhere.
That night I was so covered with shame over what I had done to another
human soul, a soul perhaps as proud and fine as any in Laurel, that it
was not till dawn that sleep visited me....
So I was just as rotten, just as snobbish, just as fearful of the herd,
as were these other human beings whom I made fun of as the bourgeoisie.
* * * * *
Speaking with Riley, one of the English professors, about the mixture of
colours on the hill....
"I must confess," he admitted sincerely, "that I feel awkward indeed
when a negro student walks by my side ... even for a few steps...."