Whether you like him or not (I don't particularly), if you don't feel any sympathy for the man you're just not human. Some things I learned:
1. Dad was a bootlegger who used to take young Barry on his bootlegging runs. Barry would sleep on top of the cases of whiskey in the back of the truck.
2. Naturally, Dad was arrested many times and never saw Barry play football because he was in the Arkansas state pen.
3. Mom was an alcoholic who also abused barbiturates.
4. At night, in the room that Barry shared with his younger brother, they'd hear Mom and Dad fighting in the next room. Barry would cover his little brother's ears to try to keep him from hearing.
5. One night, Mom comes home, kisses Barry good night, tries to kiss his brother good night but he turns his head away because she reeks of alcohol. She leaves the room and a few minutes later blows her brains out. Barry runs out and holds his dead mother in his arms.
6. Dad was murdered by a black woman who was mad at him because he was cheating on her with another black woman.
J.C. Watts told a funny story that shows how well Barry got along in the black community. On Barry's first trip to his house to recruit him, his mom was cooking pinto beans for supper. J.C. said, "Mom. Not pinto beans tonight, of all nights. This man's not used to eating pinto beans, he's used to eating steak. Only poor people eat pinto beans for supper." Then, at the dinner table, Barry was practically climbing over people to get more of those pinto beans.
1. Dad was a bootlegger who used to take young Barry on his bootlegging runs. Barry would sleep on top of the cases of whiskey in the back of the truck.
2. Naturally, Dad was arrested many times and never saw Barry play football because he was in the Arkansas state pen.
3. Mom was an alcoholic who also abused barbiturates.
4. At night, in the room that Barry shared with his younger brother, they'd hear Mom and Dad fighting in the next room. Barry would cover his little brother's ears to try to keep him from hearing.
5. One night, Mom comes home, kisses Barry good night, tries to kiss his brother good night but he turns his head away because she reeks of alcohol. She leaves the room and a few minutes later blows her brains out. Barry runs out and holds his dead mother in his arms.
6. Dad was murdered by a black woman who was mad at him because he was cheating on her with another black woman.
J.C. Watts told a funny story that shows how well Barry got along in the black community. On Barry's first trip to his house to recruit him, his mom was cooking pinto beans for supper. J.C. said, "Mom. Not pinto beans tonight, of all nights. This man's not used to eating pinto beans, he's used to eating steak. Only poor people eat pinto beans for supper." Then, at the dinner table, Barry was practically climbing over people to get more of those pinto beans.