White Like Me: Reflections On Race From a Privileged Son
“It’s the kind of query one might get from former classmates on the occasion of one’s twenty-year high school reunion: “Dear God, what the hell happened to you?” As a general rule, people don’t ask this question of those whom they consider to have dramatically improved themselves physically, emotionally, or professionally. Instead, it is more often asked of those considered to be seriously damaged, as if the only possible answer to the question would be, “Well, I was dropped on my head as a baby...,” to which the questioner would then reply, “Aha, I see.”
So whenever I’m asked this, I naturally recoil for a moment, assuming that those inquiring about the matter likely want to know what happened to me, only so that they may, having obtained the answer, carefully avoid at whatever cost having it (whatever it may be) happen to them. In my case, however, the cynicism with which I greet the question usually turns out to be unwarranted. Most of the persons who ask me “what happened”MoreLess
So whenever I’m asked this, I naturally recoil for a moment, assuming that those inquiring about the matter likely want to know what happened to me, only so that they may, having obtained the answer, carefully avoid at whatever cost having it (whatever it may be) happen to them. In my case, however, the cynicism with which I greet the question usually turns out to be unwarranted. Most of the persons who ask me “what happened”MoreLess
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