Guess who's coming to dinner?

In the first of his weekly dispatches from New York, Paul Harris reveals how casual racism among the white middle classes is still rife in parts of the United States

Thursday April 20, 2006

Lizzie was charming and fun in the way only old ladies from the Deep South can be. Her voice was not so much tinged by a lilting accent as positively laden with it. She was 80 years old and as full of life as someone a quarter of her age. She was funny and warm, kind and intelligent. She had studied political science at college and then travelled the world. She was deeply Republican but her opinions could surprise. On the hot button conservative issue of the day - abortion - she was keenly pro-choice, loudly declaring that she could not stand it when men told women what to do. 'And it is ALWAYS men who talk about abortion,' she said with a glint in her eye. 'Well, it's none of their damned business.' She was, in short, the perfect dinner guest.