As we confront a climate of racial hatred that likely does not approach that of the early 1960s but is still beyond what we have seen in recent years, perhaps Somersett's story can remind us of the old adage, "Don't judge a book by its cover." Perhaps the family member who voted for Donald Trump that you abhor or the white police officer patrolling Black Lives Matter protests is a closet Willie Somersett-like informant with the potential to do the right thing when the chips are down. And you might never learn that until after he or she dies.
Perhaps the Trump voter or seemingly racist can have an epiphany similar to Somersett's. Perhaps such a notion can lead us to view a glimmer of light in our country's apparent tunnel of darkness.
Kevin James Shay is the author of Death of the Rising Sun: A Search for Truth in the John F. Kennedy Assassination [Amazon, 2016].
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