Conversations in the Black Barbershop

By H.K. Edgerton

As I passed through the Black Historic District in Asheville, a young man would emerge from inside the Black Barbershop, motioning frantically for me to enter. One of the patrons exclaimed, “Well, well, our Black Confederate! Did you get your Christmas Present from South Carolina?” Before I could answer, he went to the next question. “Didn't you come in here ranting at the last Presidential election that when asked about the Confederate Battle Flag, Mitt Romney said that he wouldn't fly the damn thing?”

“And,” he continued, “on December 16, 2011, Nikki Haley, the Governor of South Carolina where the late unpleasantness began, gave her endorsement to the Head Puritan, Mitt Romney. What have you got to say about that?” he asked. Again before I could answer, another patron jumped into the conversation. “Yeah, HK, two or three weeks ago, you came in here so despondent about the Mayor of Lexington [Virginia] whose Great Uncle swore in President Jefferson Davis, orchestrating an Ordinance ban on the Flag in the Shrine City. Looks to us you’re fighting a lost cause.”

And at that very moment, an elderly gentleman whom I didn't know slowly got up from his chair and hobbled over to where I stood. Reaching into his worn pocket purse, he pulled out a folded twenty dollar bill, and where all present could hear, he said to me, “H.K., I hope this can help you go to Columbia with our flag and tell her how we feel. You hang in there.”

I had never felt more proud in my life as everyone present began handing me money from their pockets. What a great day in Dixie!