The Seventies- The Death of Old Dixie, A Story of Forbidden Love

This novel of fiction might be considered one of the most controversial books ever written. Some readers may find it offensive. That was not my intent when writing it. I attempted to tell the story as I lived it during my forty years as an educator. My experience teaching and coaching both black and white students gave me the opportunity to see, listen, learn and understand why our society acts or reacts as it does. The seventies was a volatile decade of change like no other in the history of America. The Vietnam War was still raging, and protests erupted everywhere. The fight against bigotry and racial discrimination was a major concern in Washington D.C. The Federal Government enacted legislation in an attempt to end racial discrimination and segregation in the “Old South.” I was coaching and teaching the first year of total integration of the public schools. I watched with great apprehension as the first bus rolled in bringing black students to the previously all white school. Neither whites nor blacks knew what to expect. Years later, I was the principal of a totally integrated school. Although this is a book of fiction, almost everything that is written in the book came from my vast experiences gained while working with black and white students and teachers. Coming from the Deep South, I was raised in a society that held deep convictions about the black race and the supremacy of the white race. It was deep rooted in the south. While teaching and supervising, I realized that almost everything whites believed about the black race was either false or vastly exaggerated. The most prevalent misgiving was that blacks are not intelligent enough to receive an education equal to whites; further, that integration will never succeed because most whites will never accept blacks as equals.
This novel takes place during that turbulent decade of the seventies and chronicles the first few years of integration and the problems and concerns that were faced. It is a story about a coach and a football team that laid aside their differences and learned to respect and love each other as they tried to achieve a goal. It is the story of a gifted white quarterback, at the top of everyone’s recruiting list, who befriended a gifted black student and his brilliant and beautiful twin sister. The friendship soon turned to forbidden love. It reveals that true love transcends all social, racial, cultural, and ethnic barriers.