Tags:: #🌱 <% tp.file.cursor(3) %> Links:: <% tp.file.cursor(4) %> # Kirk Wallace Questions and Answers How would things have changed if the books events had taken place during current day? It would probably have been much worse. Social media and the internet allow for the proliferation of disinformation and misinformation on a massive scale. What did you hope readers might take away from this specific story that would encourage them not to make the same mistakes? Be careful who or what you choose as a scapegoat for your problems. Often times the problem stems with something else or with you. You have to take responsibility for everything that happens to you. In your opinion where was the point of no return between the white people and the Vietnamese fisherman and what should they have done to reconcile the relationship at that time? The killing of Billy Joe might have gotten people off the fence that were on the fence beforehand. One of the issues is the fact that the Vietnamese were straight up just harder workers than the Whites. The Vietnamese were up against a wall from the war. They were harder workers and the Whites just didn't like that. Diane Wilson were able to see beyond the Vietnamese issue and fight back against the plants instead of the Vietnamese. Why was she able to get past the scapegoating of the Vietnamese? Diane is a women. She wasn't as vulnerable to the same type of toxic language and mule headedness as the men were. How can we in the age of social media not be mislead by false narratives and seek truth? If you feel like a piece of information overly agrees with your side it's probably biased. As a journalist how did you avoid your own biases in telling the story of the conflict? He has personally helped many many immigrants get into the U.S. He can't possibly get rid of the bias present there. He did try and do lots and lots of interviews with people on the "bad side." He interviewed Luis Beam for over 40 to 50 hours and with his wife 20 to 30 hours. He made sure not to simplify the language of the clansman or Vietnamese down so that the reader got exactly what they said. Why do you think people in conflict are often unable to see their chosen conflicts objectively? The white people felt powerless in so many of their problems but dealing with the Vietnamese was the only one they felt they could have some influence in. So Luis Beam rallied these people around attacking the Vietnamese. They absolved their responsibility for their actions to Luis Beam. It's like the Milligram Experiment. When we submit to authority we feel our actions aren't our responsibility. But that is cowardice. There is a basic ignorance that any immigrant is coming to steal your jobs. Nobody wants to be a refugee! They are coming because they have no other choice. How did you approach humanizing the people involved in the conflict without validating their actions? He makes sure to leave the arguing out of the interview. His job is to tell the full picture rather than to prove the person wrong. Whenever they say something that is audacious he writes down SU in his notebook to signify Shut Up. The strategy he uses is to act confused and dimwitted with his questions as if he is ignorant and he just needs their help to hear how he's wrong. This promotes discussion rather than mad arguing. What was the hardest part about writing this book? This was easily the hardest book he has ever written. Do you think this country has gotten better in terms of environmental and racial justice? If yes, how, and if no what do you think can be done to make it better? The moral code of history is long but it trends toward justice. Much of the time the system is flawed terribly but if you pump it in the right way and get lucky you can create incredible change.