Red Clay and Brunswick Stew

Red Clay and Brunswick Stew is a collection of sixteen short stories, all set in or near the fictional North Carolina town of Chockoyotte (pronounced "choc.yot" with the emphasis on the first syllable). Some of the stories have interrelated characters, and all are arranged chronologically, beginning in 1961 and ending shortly before the 2020 presidential election. The book's main focus is on how excruciatingly difficult it is to break down the barriers between black people and white people. In the book's first story "A Small Confusion," a white boy's conventional concept of race is challenged when he witnesses the brutalization of a black man. In "Old Women" two lonely people, one white and one black, find solace in each other's company, though they are never completely able to connect. In "Just Passing Through" a naive, ultra liberal white college student finds himself the victim of racial discrimination. In "The March," the book's final story, two strong-willed men, one white and one black, are able to rise above their prejudices and become friends. Not all the stories in this collection are about race. Most are simply about people, black and white, caught in difficult situations and struggling, often heroically, to do what they believe is right.