David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

knows, to Deer, all turtles “am so much
like annurrer you can’t tell one from
turrer.”
Underdogs have to be students of the
nuances of white expression—the hang
of the head, the depth of tone, or the
sharpness of the tongue. Their survival
depends on it. But those in positions of
power have no need to look at the weak.
Deer had disdain for the lowly Terrapin.
To him, a turtle was a turtle. The
comfortable elite of Birmingham were
just like Deer. “They can only see...
through white eyes,” Walker explained,
gleefully. “They cannot distinguish even
between Negro demonstrators and Negro
spectators. All they know is Negroes.”^7