Sense and Segregation

By MARK M. SMITH

Several years ago, I had a chance conversation in a loud church hall at a small wedding on one of those implausibly hot Southern summer evenings. I had not been there long when I bumped into Frank. Frank knows my wife from high school, and we see him occasionally when mutual friends marry or get engaged. Slim, white, and tall, he patted me on the back and asked how I was doing. Frank is in his thirties, smart, Southern, with a robust sense of humor. I like him. He asked about my new book. I