Part II: Revisiting An American Story

Debra Dickerson did eventually file the separation papers she had torn up before. She left the Air Force in 1992. Already accepted at law school at Harvard, she took a temporary position with the Democratic National Committee. The favoritism she saw there for the wealthy, white and well-connected confirmed her belief that liberals do not care much more about the poor and minority than the Republicans do. At Harvard, Dickerson did reasonably well, but did not make the overwhelmingly important top five percent cut during her freshlaw year that guarantees a position at one of the elite law firms. Having already decided to pursue writing instead of practicing law, she was not particularly disappointed. She was very disappointed with the Black Law Students Association (referred to as 'BALSA' by law students an lawyers all over the country). It reflected the same tendencies she hated in the black bourgeoise all along, especially hypocrisy and self-promotion. She broke with the group when it balked at amending its rules to admit students of any race. Dickerson explores the ideological conclusions she reached during that period more extensively in The End of Blackness.

The Atlantic describes her arguments in the second book, which are in their formative stages in An American Story, cogently.

In The End of Blackness, Dickerson turns her gaze outward, leveling sweeping attacks against "white intransigence" and "kente cloth politics" alike. She begins by reviewing the many injustices suffered by American blacks from the time of slavery up through the mid-twentieth century, and then hails the many important transformations that were wrought by the civil-rights movement. Since that time, she goes on to argue, blacks have failed to fully embrace their newly won freedoms, clinging instead to a familiar role as victims; and whites, for their part, have been reluctant to welcome full participation by blacks in American society, adhering instead to old patterns of racism.

I agree with Dickerson that many African-Americans and working-class people in general do not take advantage of the help that is available toward some upward mobility, though I also believe not nearly enough help is offered. It is often because they don't have information, peer pressure counsels otherwise or doing something different would lead to disapproval by family members, that people with potential fail to act. I believe more attention needs to focused on the talented person who is among the first in his family to consider higher education. That kind of individual needs to be pressured to get results.

Article Author: Mac Diva

Visit Mac Diva's author page