Devotion Reader

African American historian Nell Irvin Painter (Edwards Professor of American History, Emerita, at Princeton University) contributes to the considerable body of analysis and opinion on race in this new bold study, The History of White People.  Acknowledging contemporary scientific views that reject the idea of separate human "races," Painter builds on that view, by tracing the concept of race along a broad timeline, from its political and religious underpinnings of Western civilization established in Greek and Roman societies, to the elevation of "whiteness" and connection to the ideal of "beauty" in 18th century Germanic society, through its role in the formulation of early American values and social hierarchy, and the impact of the idea of race on 20th century U.S. government policies.  Most casual readers will be surprised by some of the assumptions about race Painter debunks, such as the idea of one white race instead of "white races," an factor which Painter explains has been a point of discrimination between Northern Protestant Europeans and Southern "ethnicities, such as Italians, Polish and other Slavic peoples. Painter concludes by pointing to the persistent irrationality of attempting to affix the idea that "...race must be innate and permanent." Skin color, she notes, is obviously mutable, whether the change takes place over centuries or the sexual encounter between two persons of different colors. What has remained unchanging, Painter says, is the correlation of blackness with poverty,  ". . . driven by an age-old social yearning to characterize the poor as permanently other and inherently inferior."  

The History of White People | W.W. Norton & Co. | 978-0-393-049343-3  | $27.95

Looking Through the Stained Glass Window: The State of the Black Youth

Recently I had an opportunity to speak at a Youth Teen Summit program sponsored by Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey. This summit occurred not long after several black youth had been executed on the streets of Newark.

During this rare glimpse inside the minds and lives of these 15 and 16 year old teenagers, one fact became glaringly apparent, at least to me it did. We need more forums in which to speak to our children and see what is on their minds. My deepest respect goes out to Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey for their insight and sponsoring of this program in their city.

Come On People
On the Path from Victims to Victors
By Bill Cosby and Alvin Poussaint

Bill Cosby and Alvin F. Poussaint have a powerful message for families and communities as they lay out their visions for strengthening America, or for that matter the world. They address the crises of people who are stuck because of feelings of low self-esteem, abandonment, anger, fearfulness, sadness, and feelings of being used, undefended and unprotected. These feelings often impede their ability to move forward. The authors aim to help empower people make the daunting transition from victims to victors. Come On, People! is always engaging, and loaded with heart-piercing stories of the problems facing many communities.

New England White
A Novel by Stephen L. Carter

When The Emperor of Ocean Park was published, Time Out declared: “Carter does for members of the contemporary black upper class what Henry James did for Washington Square society, taking us into their drawing rooms and laying their motives bare.” Now, with the same powers of observation, and the same richness of plot and character, Stephen L. Carter returns to the New England university town of Elm Harbor, where a murder begins to crack the veneer that has hidden the racial complications of the town’s past, the secrets of a prominent family, and the most hidden bastions of African-American political influence.

Brother, I'm Dying
A Memoir by Edwidge Danticat

From the best-selling author of The Dew Breaker, a major work of nonfiction: a powerfully moving family story that centers around the men closest to her heart—her father, Mira, and his older brother, Joseph.

From the age of four, Edwidge Danticat came to think of her uncle Joseph, a charismatic pastor, as her “second father,” when she was placed in his care after her parents left Haiti for a better life in America. Listening to his sermons, sharing coconut-flavored ices on their walks through town, roaming through the house that held together many members of a colorful extended family, Edwidge grew profoundly attached to Joseph. He was the man who “knew all the verses for love.”

… Told with tremendous feeling, this is a true-life epic on an intimate scale: a deeply affecting story of home and family—of two men’s lives and deaths, and of a daughter’s great love for them both.

Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the Twenty-first Century
By Sherrilyn A. Ifill

Concrete ways for communities with histories of racial violence to move toward reconciliation Nearly 5,000 black Americans were lynched between 1890 and 1960, and as Sherrilyn Ifill argues, the effects of this racial trauma continue to resound.

While the lynchings were devastating, the little-known contemporary consequences, such as the marginalization of political and economic development for blacks, are equally pernicious. Ifill traces the lingering effects of two lynchings in Maryland to illustrate how ubiquitous this history is, and she issues a clarion call for the many American communities with histories of racial violence to be proactive in facing this legacy. Inspired by South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and techniques of restorative justice, Ifill provides concrete ideas for communities, including placing gravestones on the unmarked burial sites of lynching victims, issuing public apologies, establishing mandatory school programs on the local history of lynching, financially compensating those whose family homes or businesses were destroyed in the aftermath of lynching, and creating commemorative public spaces. A landmark book, On the Courthouse Lawn is a much-needed roadmap to help communities finally confront lynching's long shadow by embracing pragmatic reconciliation and reparation efforts.