Toni Morrison

I believe I mentioned in a previous post that I borrowed two books from the library written by Toni Morrison. In the last two weeks, I have read those books, The Bluest Eye and Sula. 

I enjoyed both, perhaps Sula a bit more. Both described, in raw detail the lives and experiences of Black people in the South in that hundred years after Emancipation but before the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In each, Morrison does not pull any punches as she relates in very graphic scenes the reality of being Black in America during that time. 

While I believe it would have been educational, certainly challenging, to have been required to read her novels in high school, I can understand why so many White Americans, Christians no less, push to have her books banned. Advocate that their sons and daughters not be exposed to the systemic racism that existed in the land of the free for so many generations.

That it is better to pretend that those times are gone, not withstanding the glorification we are experiencing concerning Charlie Kirk who often expressed opinions that dismissed the damage done by slavery, individually as well as communally, while claiming the existence of some kind of reverse discrimination that elevates undeserving people of color and women over the much superior white male.

No wonder people of his ilk prefer to erase the historic level of racism that existed in America. They need such erasures to enhance their support for continued prejudice against minorities and women but with a new twist, that white males are now the victims.

It would be comical if it wasn't so successful, and so insidious.

Morrison died in 2019, so she has missed the meteoric rise of MAGA, although I am sure she noticed the roots of it from the day of that famous ride down the escalator, and during those first few years of the first administration.

I haven't done any research into Morrison and her books. Whether some of her stories were partly autobiographical, or just what she observed, or what was passed down from her family or her neighbors. Having been born in 1931, I am sure she experienced some of the hopelessness that she imbues in some of her characters. And the resilience against the stacked odds against her race. And the resignation that nothing would change, as long as their skin color did not match those in charge.

Neither book is happy, neither has a happy ending, or a hero or heroine who succeeds despite the odds. Perhaps she has other novels that do supply more hope. When I googled that question, the description of her novel Paradise seemed to indicate one such book.

But both books delve into the topics of self identity, self worth, race, family, and friendship, all themes that resonate across race and gender, but are uniquely detailed through the lens of the accepted belief that being born Black makes one less equal, a belief that Morrison expresses as common for both sides of that color divide.

Again, it is only two books, but I was also struck by the lack of the angry black man, or woman, that is depicted in so many stories told for white readers, by those who wish to justify the need to keep "them" under control. This is not to say that there exists in any of her other books, or books by other famous Black writers, homage to those who were more aggressive in their fight for freedom and equality.

But that is the irony. When a mostly white mob attacks our nation's capitol at the behest of the outgoing president who is too weak or just too arrogant to accept his election loss, they are hailed as patriots, and eventually pardoned. Some are even serving in legislatures, state and federal, across our land.

But when a non-white person exhibits similar aggressive action, they are law breakers, pure and simple. They must be labelled terrorists, as the president has now done in reference to antifa, which actually stands for anti-fascism. Funny how a president who actively calls his enemies all the pejorative names, socialist, communist, fascist, as if he, and his cult, understand the meaning of any of them, would be so focused on a group that itself is against fascism.

I am old enough to remember when, on the podium as they received their gold medals at the 1968 Olympics, Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised a black-gloved fist to express their dissatisfaction with the state of race relations in America. Of course, this "black power" salute as it was named by the white power brokers in our country was roundly condemned. Calls for them to have their medals revoked burst from the halls of Congress and the pundits of the day. 

Not to mention the kneeling during the national anthem that was a thing for a hot minute during the early part of Trump 1. 

In each case, just a gesture. No one was hurt, nothing was destroyed, yet because it was Black people leading the way, there was condemnation. Outrage. Ostracism.

To be fair, there was also outrage when 140 Capitol Police officers were attacked, when a couple million dollars of damage was done to the Capitol building, when a number of those same injured officers died in the days following the attack, some of their wounds, some by their own hand, traumatized as they were. 

But now, the whole incident is being rewritten as a day of Love and Peace. Nothing to see here. In fact, perhaps we should start investigating anyone who says it was a riot, anyone who investigated it and came to any conclusion other than it was an act of American patriotism.

Not sure why I decided to read Toni Morrison books so late in life, so long after their publication. I assume I encountered her name, or a reference to her works in a magazine, perhaps even The Atlantic. 

But I am glad that I read them, even if a little late. They help me feel more confident that I am on the right side of history in my condemnation of the policies of the Trump Administration, and the words of someone like Charlie Kirk, both who represent the worst of American behavior towards people not white. Whose words are the antithesis of the teachings of Jesus, the inspiration of the religion they claim to follow.

Finally, I recently asked a friend of mine how all this will end. What will it take for America to wake up to the fact that we have lost our way. His response, bloodshed, matched my prediction earlier this year that an American citizen, or citizens would be killed by an ICE or National Guardsmen, or military soldier sometime in the summer.

Fortunately, I was wrong, as summer ends has ended. But with the planned national day of celebration and remembrance for Charlie Kirk on October 14th, his birthday, which is also the birthday of George Floyd, I am hesitant to withdraw my prediction. I expect there to be all sorts of counter protests, and, if history is any lesson, those that celebrate the white racist will be called American patriots, while those that honor the murdered black man will be labelled anti-American terrorists.

And so the decline continues.