COLUMN: So Shines A Good Deed In A Weary World

“How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.”

- "The Merchant of Venice" by William Shakespeare

TUSCALOOSA, AL — When I first saw the now-viral Nick's in the Sticks video Saturday morning, I was hesitant to write anything about it.

If I'm being honest, I've never been much for the cheap "Local Man Goes Viral" stories.

Click here to subscribe to our free Tuscaloosa Daily newsletter and breaking news alerts

Especially in such a toxic political climate, those kinds of news stories are normally good for only two things — getting clicks and further fomenting division. Rarely, if ever, do confrontations caught on viral video make positive waves in the real world around us.

Then the messages, emails and phone calls began to pour in, causing my phone to overheat with dedicated Tuscaloosa Patch readers and even close friends wanting both to know more about what happened and wondering why in the hell I hadn't already written anything about it.

So here I am to make good.

For those unfamiliar with the situation, a Tuscaloosa County man named Hunter Sartain was captured on video passionately chastising another man — allegedly the boyfriend or husband of the current owner — for using a racial slur when referring to a group of Black people Sartain was sitting with at the restaurant.

Sartain insists that they are his friends, who also supposedly heard the foul language, and that he would never again be a patron at Nick's in the Sticks, despite alluding to the fact that he had previously been a frequent customer.

The incident has already garnered plenty of media coverage providing transcripts of the confrontation, so I'm not here to rehash the entire thing blow-by-blow.

To watch the full viral video, click the link below or click here to watch it on AL.com's YouTube channel.

Sartain, very much a bearded white man with a pronounced southern drawl , became a local celebrity overnight and a viral sensation for his actions, while the incident itself has prompted widespread outcry against the once-popular establishment that's known best for its signature drink, the Nicodemus.

The ensuing backlash resulted in thousands of negative online business reviews criticizing Nick's in the Sticks, along with the local chapter of the NAACP picketing out in front of the business after the news broke.

"I am deeply appalled and outraged by the racist language reportedly used by the owner's husband at Nick's in the Sticks," Tuscaloosa County Branch NAACP President Lisa Young said in a statement to Patch. "Such dehumanizing and hateful behavior has no place in our community or anywhere else. We stand in solidarity with the victims and demand accountability and justice. We will continue to fight against all forms of racism and work towards creating a community where every individual is treated with the dignity and respect they deserve."

Nick's in the Sticks has not issued a public comment on the situation apart from an unverified photo making the rounds of what appears to be a woman standing behind the restaurant's "closed" sign on its front door while giving a middle finger to the individual taking the picture.

Sartain has also been publicly mum about the matter as news outlets, well-wishers and otherwise are likely pounding at his door hoping for a comment or even just a small piece of the action.

And I can't say I blame him for staying out of the spotlight.

It could be fairly assumed that Sartain had no intention of becoming a viral celebrity when he went out to Nick's in the Sticks that night. By all accounts from those who know him well, he's a humble, good-natured man who sticks by his convictions and doesn't seek attention for doing the right thing — something he reportedly does quite often.

Nevertheless, Sartain's decision to stand up for his friends has now been seen by millions, including by way of one of my posts on X — the social media platform formerly known as Twitter — that had received over 20,000 likes and 1.2 million views as of the publication of this column.

And that's just one post from my personal account that has less than 10,000 followers.

Considering this, though, it should come as no surprise that bad-faith actors, bots and trolls have also entered the public discourse to weigh in on the matter, with some insisting the altercation was staged while others question the fact that the man being confronted by Sartain was never captured on video saying the aforementioned racial slur.

The most prominent critique I'd like to address, though, appears to lack serious context that I think may give people a different perspective. Indeed, many on social media have insisted that Sartain shouldn't be celebrated for doing the right thing:

"The man stuck up for his friends and isn't a racist. Dope and should be the norm. That means we reward him?"

"[White] people expecting a cookie for not being a racist?!?!?!?! It's called being a decent human being."

"He ain't reached John Brown tier 'ally' status."

"Not applauding a white person acting like a regular human being. I realize that may be a feat for y'all tho."

"White folks get treated like war vets for common decency."

I concede that these comments are not without some merit. And I do agree, up to a point, that doing the right thing whether anyone is looking does not a hero make.

But there are two things I believe are worth due consideration here, with the first being the volatile political climate in this country. At a time when many interpret the First Amendment as providing them the right to spout racist or violent rhetoric, most normal, politically moderate people — when not on social media — are far too concerned about drawing unwanted attention to themselves in public when their actions could even be considered political.

I'd wager that if each of us were confronted with the number of times we've looked the other way or kept our big mouths shut for the sake of keeping our head down, we'd be ashamed of ourselves and more likely to want to change.

My second point — a much more relevant one that likely isn't considered by those outside of Alabama or the Deep South — is how Sartain's actions buck every age-old stereotype regarding race relations here, Tuscaloosa specifically.

Simply put, it's just not something many could've guessed they would ever see in our part of the country and state due to our regrettable and violent history of institutional racism.

Keep in mind, dear reader, that Tuscaloosa was the site of segregationist Gov. George Wallace's stand in the schoolhouse door. The county was also once the base of operations for the United Klansmen of America under its infamous leader, Robert Shelton, who once occupied a fourth-floor office in the Alston Building overlooking Greensboro Avenue in downtown Tuscaloosa.

The United Klans of America stands out as the most powerful incarnation of the hate group to date after Shelton brought together numerous klaverns from across the south under one umbrella located right here in our community.

During this violent and turbulent period, Tuscaloosa also grabbed national headlines in the summer of 1964 when police and a white mob attacked Black demonstrators at First African Baptist Church who were attempting to peacefully protest segregated accommodations at the nearby Tuscaloosa County Courthouse.

Known today as "Bloody Tuesday" by those who were beaten and jailed, the 60th anniversary of this violent chapter in Tuscaloosa's history was observed earlier this summer.

These memories still linger fresh for those who lived through them and, in many ways, some of the wounds have never truly healed.

This brief local history lesson is an important bit of context when considering how the outside world views the state of Alabama and, more importantly, Tuscaloosa. In some ways, we deserve the barbs and critical remarks, but the Tuscaloosa of today — for all its foibles and work still to be done — has come a long, long way since the 1960s.

It just took a bold someone like Hunter Sartain to show it to the rest of the world.

Indeed, I saw more comments than I could count posted by folks who said they didn't expect to see Sartain — a burly white man with a southern accent — verbally dressing down another white man for using racist language to refer to his friends.

Many also admitted they assumed it would be the broad-shouldered protagonist in the video exposed for using racial slurs instead of the one standing up against it.

And as the attention around the story grew, I was also stunned to see scores of people of different political stripes coming together to praise this man. At such a strange, divided time in our nation's history, it wasn't something this reporter expected to see, either.

Nevertheless, I was born in Tuscaloosa County and what I saw in the video was something worth commending and celebrating for showing the outside world that we're not all rebel flag waving hillbillies down here.

This is what I'd like to think the "real" America looks like when you step away from the troll-dominated echo chambers of social media and the politically compromised shills on network news.

Is there still racism in this world? Absolutely.

Is there still racism in Alabama? That much is obvious just from the video.

My wish, though, is that the unity and solidarity witnessed in our community following Sartain's brief moment in the spotlight serves a much larger purpose during a time when many sorely need to get such a message.

There's plenty in the news cycle to make one pessimistic about the state of things in this country as politics divide families and neighbors no longer trust one another simply based on who they vote for.

This scandal, like all others, is sure to pass soon when another controversy takes its place in the public conversation. But just for this fleeting moment it gave me something I desperately needed when looking out at the world around me ... hope.

Have a news tip or suggestion on how I can improve Tuscaloosa Patch? Maybe you're interested in having your business become one of the latest sponsors for Tuscaloosa Patch? Email all inquiries to me at ryan.phillips@patch.com