Up poking around online. I read this essay and was so impressed I bought a Kindle book of How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in a America by Kiese Laymon.
It was this quote from Laymon’s essay, “The Worst of White Folks,” that did it for me.
The worst of white folks, I understood, wasn’t some gang of rabid white people in crisp pillowcases and shaved heads. The worst of white folks was a pathetic, powerful “it.” It conveniently forgot that it came to this country on a boat, then reacted violently when anything or anyone suggested it share. The worst of white folks wanted our mamas and grandmas to work themselves sick for a tiny sliver of an American pie it needed to believe it had made from scratch. It was all at once crazy-making and quick to violently discipline us for acting crazy. It had an insatiable appetite for virtuoso black performance and routine black suffering. The worst of white folks really believed that the height of black and brown aspiration should be emulation of its mediocre self. The worst of white folks inherited disproportionate access to quality health care, food, wealth, fair trials, fair sentencing, college admittance, college graduations, promotions and second chances, yet still terrorized and shamed other Americans who lacked adequate access to healthy choices at all. White Americans were wholly responsible for the worst of white folks, though they would do all they could to make sure it never wholly defined them.
This makes a ton of sense to me.
I also found Laymon on Facebook and sent a “friend request.”
1. Racist Satire of Obamas Hits a Nerve in Belgium – NYTimes.com
““What’s happening is the normalization of hate…”
2. A Nation of Takers? – NYTimes.com
Kristoff redefines the rhetoric of the right and focuses on some welfare cheats that get ignored.
3. Black Bean Chorizo Casserole with Pickled Onions – Recipes – The New York Times
On a lighter note, I bought ingredients to make this recipe yesterday. I will make half of it without the chorizo for myself, using chorizo in the other half for Eileen.