Lexington and West Columbia, SC are the areas where the confederate flag flies proudly and diversity is a "no-no". When my realtor took me around those areas to buy a house, neighbors came out and stared as if to say "No, not our neighborhood!". And the number one question I received was, "Is it just you buying the house?". I really wanted to answer at least once, "Nope, me and all 1,000 of my BLACKEST relatives. Why?" A large number of these residents worked for NCR as managers. Oh, and NCR was sued by its minority employees because of the unfair salaries and hiring practices of the management. Maria lives in this area and is one of those NCR managers. Almost all of the residents attend church weekly, don't know why, though, because it's "I love the Lord, but I hate black people!". There are some good people living in these areas, but they're more than outnumbered.
And their favorite restaurant: Maurice's BBQ -- see his distributed rhetoric, or try these: 1. heritage, not hate?, 2. it looks like dixienews couldn't raise the confederate money to keep their site going), 3. comical, I'm guessing Rindy and Maria are boycotting those stores as well, 4. ummm, it's almost 2003?
But anyway...Maurice's is a restaurant owned by a well-known Klansman. I was even told in writing by the Human Resources Manager, Rindy Abdelnour, and her assistant that Maurice's is part of the heritage and I should respect it. All the executives and some Venrock staff are taken to Maurice's whenever they stop in Columbia, So. Carolina. And the confederate flag is still flying over the restaurants.
This was also the last conversation I had with Maria as I was out for surgery the following week. The only other time I saw her was right before she and Drawdy were about to "get busy".