When Race Becomes Real: Black and White Writers Confront Their Personal Histories

354 Pages·2008·2.01 MB·English

M^[d
HWY[
8[Yec[i
H[Wb
;Z_j[ZXo8[hd[ij_d[I_d]b[o
;f_be]k[Xo:[hh_Ya8[bb
When
Race
Becomes
Real
WHEN
RACE
BECOMES
REAL
Black and
White Writers
Confront
Teir Personal
Histories
Edited by Bernestine Singley
With an Epilogue by Derrick Bell
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY PRESS
Carbondale
Copyright © 2002 by Bernestine Singley
First published 2002. Southern Illinois University Press edition 2008
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
11 10 09 08 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
When race becomes real : Black and White writers confront their personal histories /
edited by Bernestine Singley ; with an epilogue by Derrick Bell.
p. cm.
Originally published: Chicago : Lawrence Hill Books, c2002.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8093-2885-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8093-2885-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. United States—Race relations—Anecdotes. 2. Racism—United States—
Anecdotes. 3. African American writers—Biography—Anecdotes. 4. African
Americans—Race identity—Anecdotes. 5. African Americans—Social conditions—
Anecdotes. 6. Authors, American—Biography—Anecdotes. 7. Whites—Race
identity—United States—Anecdotes. 8. Whites—United States—Social conditions—
Anecdotes. I. Singley, Bernestine.
E185.615.W44 2008
305.800973—dc22 2008020349
Printed on recycled paper.
Te paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. ∞
Odessa Roberts Singley and
Walter O. Weyrauch, this one is for you.
C o n t e n t s
Introduction by Bernestine Singley xi
I. Genesis 1
Jim Schutze, Race Story 3
Leonard Pitts, Jr., Crazy Sometimes 21
Robert Coles, Experiences and Memories 29
Les Payne, The Night I Stopped Being a Negro 37
John Seigenthaler, Sr., Son of the South 51
Kimberly Springer, Talking White 71
Natalie Angier, Central Park Samaritan 79
Lucy Gibson, It All Started with My Parents 87
II. Fear and Longing 99
Julianne Malveaux, Race, Rage, and the Ace of Spades 101
David Bradley, To Make Them Stand in Fear 111
Theresa M. Towner, Passing 139
Robert Jensen, Black and White 143
Joycelyn K. Moody, For Colored Girls Who Have Resisted
Homogenization When the Rainbow Ain’t Enough 159
Patricia J. Williams, Anatomy of a Fairy Princess 173
Kalamu ya Salaam, A Rambling Response to the Play
Marie Christine 183
Shawn E. Rhea, Black, White, and Seeing Red All Over 193
Ira J. Hadnot, Race Fatigue 207
III. Exodus 213
Beverly Daniel Tatum, Choosing to Be Black: The Ultimate
White Privilege? 215
Tim Wise, White Like Me: Race and Identity Through
Majority Eyes 225
Colleen J. McElroy, Traveling with White People 241
Kiini Ibura Salaam, Race: A Discussion in Ten Parts, Plus a
Few Moments of Unsubstantiated Theory and One
Inarguable Fact 253
Touré, A Funky Fresh Talented Tenth 269
Lisa Dodson and Odessa Dorian Cole, On Acting White:
Mother-Daughter Talk 273
Susan Straight, Country Music 283
Noel Ignatiev, One Summer Evening 291
Carlton Winfrey, Spelling Lesson 303
Bernestine Singley, Jasper, Texas Elegy 307
Michael Patrick MacDonald, All Souls: Civil Rights From
Southie to Soweto and Back 317
Hanna Griffiths, Pictures in Black and White 323
Epilogue by Derrick Bell 327
A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s
I am eternally indebted to Gary Reaves, the extraordinary blessing
who is my husband and without whom neither the luxury of my writ-
ing life nor my sanity would be likely; to Tina Wallace, my sister, for
love, courage, and perseverance; to Derrick Bell for three decades of
goading, challenge, and relentless affirmation;
. . . to Marilyn Milloy for turning me into a real writer; Barbara
Neely and MK Blakely for things too numerous to name; Reiki mas-
ters Cynthia Johnson and Polly W. Russell for healing; Vanessa Jackson
for coaching; Annette Lawrence for clarity; and the Negril Beach Posse
for you know what;
. . . to the most generous, gifted, and daring group of writers ever
listed in any table of contents and especially to Patricia J. Williams,
Robert Coles and Derrick Bell for being my first lures;
. . . to Ann Collette for seamless support and enthusiasm; Yuval
Taylor for valuing my vision, Jerome Pohlen for perfecting it on the
page, and Jaime Guthals for spreading the word;
. . . to Ms. Barbara Ann Roberts, Ms. Ilda Sue Johnson (Greene),
Ms. Lecora Lucas Mobley, and Ms. Margaret B. Booker, my teachers
in the black segregated schools of Charlotte, North Carolina—you
always knew; the West Charlotte Senior High School “Mighty Lions”
Class of 1967, Dr. Spencer E. Durante, Joseph C. Champion, Jr., and
especially my found brother and e-mail philosopher, Fredrick E.
McGriff—we made it through.
. . . to Cameron Isaiah Wallace; Jaylon Muldrow; Cameron and
Savannah Windham; Wesley, Rachael, Leah, and Ryan Holmes; Jay,
Victoria, and Jacqueline Boatright; Kia Harper and Cherice Harper
Jefferies; Tramassa Tellis, Daneen Berry, and Deshay Franklin; and
Ashley and Keevonya Wilkerson. You are the future. Live free.
ix