“I will flatly say that the bulk of this country’s white population impresses me, and has so impressed me for a very long time, as being beyond any conceivable hope of moral rehabilitation. They have been white, if I may so put it, too long: the effect on their personalities, their lives, their grasp of reality, has been as devastating a…
“I will flatly say that the bulk of this country’s white population impresses me, and has so impressed me for a very long time, as being beyond any conceivable hope of moral rehabilitation. They have been white, if I may so put it, too long: the effect on their personalities, their lives, their grasp of reality, has been as devastating as the lava which so memorably immobilized the citizens of Pompeii. They are unable to conceive that their version of reality, which they want me to accept, is an insult to my history and a parody of theirs and an intolerable violation of myself. James Baldwin, “The Price May Be Too High,” The New York Times, February 2, 1969.”
How then, do we deal with those whom Baldwin condemns "as being beyond any conceivable hope of moral rehabilitation"? Some try to evade the problem by moving to a quaint Maine fishing port, a bucolic Adirondack farm, a gated community in Florida or Arizona or even choose to live outside of the country in places like France or Mexico. Others remain here, usually in our urban centers where these different versions of reality visibly clash on a daily basis. And Baldwin identifies the believers in one of those versions as "the bulk of this country's white population" seventy-four million of whom voted for that perverted version of reality in 2020 and are trying to enshrine it in our educational system wherever they can. Dealing with this is challenging, to say the least. I hope succeeding generations are up to it.
“I will flatly say that the bulk of this country’s white population impresses me, and has so impressed me for a very long time, as being beyond any conceivable hope of moral rehabilitation. They have been white, if I may so put it, too long: the effect on their personalities, their lives, their grasp of reality, has been as devastating as the lava which so memorably immobilized the citizens of Pompeii. They are unable to conceive that their version of reality, which they want me to accept, is an insult to my history and a parody of theirs and an intolerable violation of myself. James Baldwin, “The Price May Be Too High,” The New York Times, February 2, 1969.”
Great quote, Sandy, from a great author whose NYT article could have been written yesterday.
Exactly.
In 1969, this whitey was just trying to scrape by, but this old whitey agrees with him.
How then, do we deal with those whom Baldwin condemns "as being beyond any conceivable hope of moral rehabilitation"? Some try to evade the problem by moving to a quaint Maine fishing port, a bucolic Adirondack farm, a gated community in Florida or Arizona or even choose to live outside of the country in places like France or Mexico. Others remain here, usually in our urban centers where these different versions of reality visibly clash on a daily basis. And Baldwin identifies the believers in one of those versions as "the bulk of this country's white population" seventy-four million of whom voted for that perverted version of reality in 2020 and are trying to enshrine it in our educational system wherever they can. Dealing with this is challenging, to say the least. I hope succeeding generations are up to it.