LETTERS

The River Ran Red

As an African-American man who grew up in the Deep South, in an environment of abject racial segregation, I found that David Gessner’s article “Dangerous Ground” (Autumn

2018) conjured up a wide range of emotions for me. It’s both laudable and remarkable that Gessner established a friendship with his African-American student Will—one that transcended the teacher-student relationship—and courageous for Gessner to defend him, after Will had several confrontations with Wilmington policemen. However, I did consider it to be poor judgment on Will’s part when he refused to shake the hand of one of the officers who had previously profiled and confronted him. The officer’s offer of a handshake may have been disingenuous, but there was nothing to lose by keeping open a conduit for possible communication.