Somewhere on the Road to Damascus

it happened in Durham which was surprising to me in more urban spaces

I find the racism to be less overt

more below the surface

more simmering

I was driving with my daughter when they passed me two riders, two motorcycles

with patches of white supremacist affiliation

stereotypes:

large

long bearded

black booted

women riding on back

I would have paid no mind save the flag

large and white with red trim

floating from a pole off the back of one bike

white with a red X

the original flag of the confederacy

wrestling with how to respond

a surprise I hadn’t been expecting