Although the first story is technically a non-fiction essay, the reader should see it as the frame for the other five stories, of which one in particular stands out. There is the story "Fire and Cloud," which serves as the major climax of the story collection. The last story, "Bright and Morning Star," is almost like an epilogue, because it shows one other minor note, that although it might have made sense to partner with Communists during Jim Crow, they couldn't even do that, because even the most liberal, utopic white people in town were still undeniably racist and openly hostile toward black people.
That shows that the problem truly isn't racism. Racism is abominable, and it definitely defines the book, but the root problem of racism is disgust. Because white people exhibit disdain for black people in this book, the two communities are permanently separated. In "Long Black Song," a white man rapes a black woman, and the husband is so disturbed by that, that he beats his own wife for getting raped—which is proof that at least sometimes, the hatred goes both ways. Therefore, if racism is to be fixed, then it must be fixed by tolerance and community, because only friendship can eliminate hatred and disgust.
The problem is that they are not perceiving the situation correctly in these stories. Each person is living a personal hell in the dysfunction and abuse of the Jim Crow era, which makes people extreme and frantic. So the stories have an epic quality, because they are about people who have their backs against the wall. No one can save a black person from racism, as Preacher Taylor discovers. By trying to overcome racism, he almost failed, but by becoming a victim of violence (he is randomly beaten by racists), he realizes that the true path to strength comes not in individual behavior, but in one's ability to find community. With shared community, the horrors of racism and violence become passionate love within a family of people fighting for one another.
