randy_byers (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
randy_byers) wrote2008-10-21 10:31 am
randy_byers) wrote2008-10-21 10:31 am
Entry tags:
Righteous white people
If you guys aren't reading Ta-Nehisi Coates at the Atlantic, you ought to give him a try. Not only does he write with great nuance on the topic of race in America, but he's also a big old nerd who occasionally waxes eloquent about D&D or comic books. Today he's moved by Barack Obama's ailing grandmother to think about ordinary people:
But now, more than anyone, I am thinking of Barack Obama's grandparents. One of the big mistakes we make when we look at the history of race in this country is to focus on big people and big events. What should be remembered is that, though our racial history is mired in utter disgrace, though the deep cowardice of post-reconstruction haunts us into the 21st century, at any point on the timeline, you can find ordinary white people doing the right thing. Frederick Douglass, himself a biracial black man, is a hero of mine. But arguably more heroic, is Helen Pitts, his second wife--a white woman, who traced her history back to the Mayflower, whose ancestors founded Richmond, Va,, and who was cast out for marrying Douglass. Here is a white woman who spent the best years of life fighting for suffrage and racial justice. After Douglass died, she dedicated the rest of her life to seeing him honored, when everyone else was on the verge of forgetting. Please read up on her. She was the truth.
He goes on to write about Obama's grandparents doing the right thing by Barack in raising him. It's a good reminder at a time when a lot of racial ugliness is being raised in the presidential campaign.
Oh, and the comments are well worth reading too.
But now, more than anyone, I am thinking of Barack Obama's grandparents. One of the big mistakes we make when we look at the history of race in this country is to focus on big people and big events. What should be remembered is that, though our racial history is mired in utter disgrace, though the deep cowardice of post-reconstruction haunts us into the 21st century, at any point on the timeline, you can find ordinary white people doing the right thing. Frederick Douglass, himself a biracial black man, is a hero of mine. But arguably more heroic, is Helen Pitts, his second wife--a white woman, who traced her history back to the Mayflower, whose ancestors founded Richmond, Va,, and who was cast out for marrying Douglass. Here is a white woman who spent the best years of life fighting for suffrage and racial justice. After Douglass died, she dedicated the rest of her life to seeing him honored, when everyone else was on the verge of forgetting. Please read up on her. She was the truth.
He goes on to write about Obama's grandparents doing the right thing by Barack in raising him. It's a good reminder at a time when a lot of racial ugliness is being raised in the presidential campaign.
Oh, and the comments are well worth reading too.