The Hanging Tree

This chapter covers Huler‘s journey to Salisbury and his interaction with people and their stories. He first introduces the Motor Speedway by observing his surroundings. Huler reflects on Dale Earnhardt’s statue and compares the legendary stock car racer to Lawson, who he hopes the Carolinas will come to love. As he continues his journey, he considers Lawson’s adventure up the Trading Path and his stay in the Saponas, where he encounters a fight between Indian tribes. Along Huler’s journey in Salisbury, he encounters a town whose residents are 85 percent African American and whose streets feature a number of empty houses. Huler tells his Lawson story to the people he meets there, including Mike, who tells him to see the hanging tree, a symbol for black residents. Huler describes the many Confederate flags he saw and a man he met who told him that the flag is not a symbolism of racism, but a representation that the Civil War was fought over something other than slavery.