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Tuesday, March 27, 2018

A Lesson From Ta-Nehisi Coates


This month, the book group at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church read Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, an author and journalist whose career has ranged from serving as national correspondent for The Atlantic to writing the Black Panther comic book series that has become a major motion picture.  Coates is African-American, and Between the World and Me is his account—told through a series of letters to his son—of the experience of being black in American society.  The book won the National Book Award for Nonfiction and was a finalist for a Pulitzer. 
            The book is an eye-opener.  While I have read other books about the African-American experience, this was the first time that I had experienced an author speaking directly, intimately, and at length about the many facets of being black in American society.  A powerful writer, he brings home the intensity of that experience, which comes into sharp focus when a good friend is gunned down by a policeman. 
            Between the World and Me contains many references to people who go about their lives, in Coates’ words, “as if they were white.”  His point is that race is socially manufactured, that Europeans and European-Americans justified their enslavement of Africans by creating the idea that there are separate races.  In other words, they created the idea of “black” as an inferior race and, in the process, created the idea of “white” as a superior race.   “Difference in hue and hair,” he writes, “is old.  But the belief in the preeminence of hue and hair, the notion that these factors can correctly organize a society and that they signify deeper attributes, which are indelible—this is the new idea at the heart of these new people who have been brought up hopelessly, tragically, deceitfully, to believe that they are white” (p. 7).
            His comments reminded me of a discussion during the planning of an international conference in Canada a few years back.  The discussion centered around the U.S. ideal of a “melting pot” versus the Canadian ideal of a social “mosaic” in which each individual brings his/her own unique characteristics to society.  During the Book Group discussion, I noted the common rule of thumb that it usually takes three generations for an immigrant family to fully blend into the general U.S. population—to fully melt in the pot.  At that point, people tend to privatize their historical roots and live publicly simply as unhyphenated Americans.  Perhaps Coates has a similar idea in mind when he says to his son, “You can no more be black like I am black than I could be black like your grandfather was” (p. 39).   Each generation lives in a somewhat different context that defines how they see themselves and how they are seen.  Irish-Americans and Italian-Americans—despite rough, often violent resistance to their ancestors when they first arrived—fully blend into the crowd after a few generations and use their hyphen as a point of familial pride, not as a public label.  But clearly, the value that Americans place on the idea of race as a differentiator of power has made that difficult for African-Americans.  As Coates writes, “There will surely always be people with straight hair and blue eyes, as there have been for all history.  But some of these straight-haired people with blue eyes have been ‘black,’ and this points to the great difference between their world and ours.”
            It remains true that racial distinctions both flow from and reinforce the fact that “whites” enslaved “blacks,” creating a lasting social disparity between the two groups.  In the long run, we need to eliminate these artificial distinctions.  However, it may be worth noting that it has only been two generations—since the black rights movement of the 1960s—that African-Americans have gained their full rights as citizens in the U.S.  Clearly, racism still exists, but, increasingly, it is recognized for what it is. 
            It has been good in recent months to see the melting pot ideal increasingly featured in television advertising.  It is not just that black families are more visible as representatives of the purchasing public, but that mixed race couples and mixed race families are now often seen as models.  It is a sign that the mosaic, if not yet the melting pot, is at work.  Perhaps Generation Z—the third generation since the civil rights achievements of the 1960s—who have already begun to step up for social change in light of school shootings, is the generation that will see the end to this struggle.  It is an ambitious dream, but one worth the effort.  It remains for all of us to to embrace all varieties of American as our neighbors, our friends, our extended family.  The recent shooting death of Stephon Clark is a haunting reminder of how far we have to go; the news coverage of this tragedy, though, may be a sign that we are nearing a point where racism—and race, generally—is no longer an acceptable excuse for the misuse of power.

Friday, March 23, 2018

Some Thoughts on Gun Control


On Saturday, I hope to join the local walk for gun control inspired by the students in Parkland, Florida.  In preparation, here are some thoughts on what a reasonable gun control policy might look like.  First, a reminder of the second amendment to the U.S Constitution.  It reads:
A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right
of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Automatic Weapons
            Automatic weapons—the AR15s and weapons like them, along with bump stocks and other devices that allow a gun to fire as if it were automatic—are weapons of war and should not be available to individuals.  These are not weapons of individual protection and have no value to hunters.  Since the Constitution encourages states to establish a “well-regulated militia,”  automatic weapons and related devices, to the extent that they are needed at all, should be maintained in a well-protected armory, so that they are available to the militia in emergencies.  However, they should not be available for individuals to purchase in sporting goods stores, gun shows, or anywhere else.
Other Weapons
            The situation is different for hunting rifles and pistols, given the long tradition of hunting in many American communities and concerns for home safety.  Here, we can learn from the experience of states to control motor vehicles and drivers:
  • States should conduct background checks on all individuals seeking to own or use fire arms.
  • Owners and users of weapons should be tested on their ability to safely use the weapons and, having passed the test, should be licensed.  Just as some states have separate licensing to drive motorcycles, cars, and certain trucks, states should require separate licenses for hunting rifles, pistols, and other weapons.  User licenses should be renewed annually. 
  • Fire arms ownership should be registered and that registration should be renewed annually, as is done with motor vehicle ownership.
  • Owners should be held legally responsible for any deaths or property destruction caused by fire arms that they own.  States should require owners to maintain insurance on their weapons, just as is the case with automobiles.
  • Owners should be required to report missing/stolen weapons to the local police within 24 hours of discovering that they are missing.
  • There should be adequate penalties for possession of unregistered weapons and for unlicensed use of weapons.
            The infrastructure to administer these requirements already exists in the Department of Motor Vehicles in most states.  It should be relatively easy to add these requirements and support the work through registration and license fees.
            Over the years, the process of registration and licensing around motor vehicles has become accepted as a part of daily life in America.  The driver’s exam and first license are seen by many as a rite of passage.  There’s no reason to assume that the same would not happen when similar requirements are tied to fire arms.  Since it is unlikely that Americans will give up their guns, we need this basic regulation to help protect citizens.