Politically speaking, most people involved in academia are liberal. As a teacher, Conroy's views have changed tremendously during his lifetime. When Conroy was a youth, he was a racist. Presently, Conroy is a liberal. Pat came from a conservative background starting at high school. "...when I rode in the back seat of a '57 Chevrolet along a night blackened Carolina road hunting for blacks to hit with rotten watermelons . . . We called this intrepid form of entertainment 'nigger-knocking,' and it was great fun ....