This was during the days of segregation in East Texas, so there was a black side and a white side. A black side and a white side, right, but both sides were always filled up. The old white boys came and they had their racism. That let me know where people are comin' from, what people can have in common. Poor people, the middle class, the upper class - good barbecue ribs gets to them.
Blacks are hip to barbecue, and whites are getting hip to barbecue as a treat.
And that helps take the sting out of the cost. Look upon ribs as something of a treat that happens to help world peace. Ribs bring out a commonality among people as diverse as Seale and the late City Councilman Al Pearlman. Three years ago, Pearlman called me, hurt that an article I had written on ribs left out his favorites, which he then enthusiastically described. It's a fond vision I had, the conservative that Pearlman was and the militant that Seale was sitting down together over a plate of ribs.