As I continue my Walk Across America through the great state of North Carolina, I have heard from folks up north that “the South is America’s problem.” These friends of mine, who are not so familiar with this region, often think of it as the nation’s hotbed of backwardness, where the lingering echoes of slavery, segregation and Confederate nostalgia fuel divisive debates over race, guns and social progress. They believe this region is mired in poverty and prejudice and forever locked into battles over old monuments. But they’re outsiders who’ve never walked the backroads I have. I have met farmers, factory hands, professors, business people, churchgoers, chefs and veterans, and I am calling it like I see it: These outsiders are flat-out wrong.
Sam Busa