The Racist

The Racist is the story of a man of the Greatest Generation, of the Jim Crow South and proud of his Texan heritage, who raised his sons in the Mid-Atlantic states. His out-of-touch lodestars of strict--actually raging and intimidating--child discipline and racism were his intended legacy. But as society evolved his legacy would instead be one of utter repudiation, lifelong rage issues, suicide, and redemption. The author takes this legacy--with some historical perspective, objectivity, and Christian forgiveness--and applies the lessons learned to our hyper-racial, dishonest, confused, and disintegrating national discourse. What becomes clear is, first, a warning that our future is looking very dark indeed if we continue on this road. But also that there is hope that America can unite under its founding principles and can continue to be a beacon to the world--where racism and bigotry remain relics of the past. Robert D. Leigh retired from the Army Reserves in 2006 and from the Veteran's Administration in 2020 after a thirty-two-year nursing career. He came to manhood in Baltimore County, Maryland where he developed his life-long pursuits of shooting, hiking, camping, white-water kayaking, playing music, bike riding, reading and acting. Being in the Boomer generation that witnessed the end of Jim Crow, the Civil Rights era, the end of the Cold War, and the realization of equal treatment of everyone in society, upon retirement he saw the rise of Antiracism through a lens that gave stark clarity to our current reality. A lens that is mostly ignored by most voices today. This work is the product of two years of watching, thinking, and responding to our COVID world and beyond.