Although significant by itself, Wright’s Native Son is only one of a series of bridges that highlight America’s great tradition of racial bigotry.
The resistance of David Walker’s Appeal, Frederick Douglass’ admonishments during a Fourth of July presentation, Anna Julia Cooper’s lamentations from the South, W.E.B. DuBois’ prophetic warning that “the problem of the 20th Century will be the color line” and a series of deaths all serve as reminders of America’s horrific history of racial animosity.
An unbiased review of the American historical record reveals White America as a collective of greedy, avaricious, ends-justify-the-means, racial bigots who have little problem turning a blind-eye toward genocide if it serves a larger purpose.
Yet, I am firmly entrenched in the belief that the only population capable of stomping out America’s grand tradition of racial bigotry and hatred is White America.
The ability to end racial bigotry and the cascade of ills that flow from it is found within a White America whose power and privilege rests on its existence.
