This one was a reckoning for me... I haven't read Fried Green Tomatoes in a long time, but I do remember loving the book and the movie at the time... and now I have read all the quotes you pulled from the book and realize I didn't really read it, not really, not with an ear open to the actual words, not with a heart open to the full humanity of all the characters in the story, not with my eyes open to the constructs of racism that surrounds us always, in every single aspect of our lives here. Today I know better, so tomorrow I can, and will, do better. So much learning- and unlearning- to do! Thanks for shining a light in this space.
I *somehow* avoided the pitfalls of many of the most popular white savior narratives presented during my youth, but growing up in the south, they were still the prevailing narrative to understanding race. I have always been suspicious of things I am "supposed" to like, and it's probably the only reason I didn't fall all over myself to love these things, not because I was aware enough to know better. I do think it helped me be more open to the facts of the matter once I got to college and actually took an African American literature class where I was faced with the realization that being nice did not equal not being racist. I never once questioned the realization once it was presented to me, even though it was terribly uncomfortable. Thank you for sharing your always astute observations and giving a lot of us a chance to sit with uncomfortable realizations. I wish more people saw the value in these types of moments rather than immediately seeking the comfortable novocaine of lies we have learned to expect.
Thank you for this. I dreaded reading it because I knew I was going to be shocked at my own deafness and blindness and I was. Many books/movies hit so differently after reexamination. It didn't age well. May we and our country age better and not try to return to these good old days. I'm sorry you had to visit them in the pages of this book.
To Kill a Mockingbird was required reading at my high school, and was the first book I’d ever read that discussed the lives and culture of African Americans. It was a milestone, and I’d guess the same is true for many white folks. At a glance it may seem awkward that a novel featuring a Black experience is written by a white author, but Harper Lee addresses her own ignorance of the nuances and history of Black culture by telling it from the perspective of a female child, who is trying to understand the world around her. The symbolism of Scout as our own white ignorance is very powerful, and reassures the reader that it’s okay to feel confused and surprised by the depth of a racial system we’ve been conditioned not to notice.
Unlike the Help or Hairspray, To Kill a Mockingbird never read to me as a white savior narrative. The white protagonists are aware that despite Atticus’s white privilege and status, he cannot save a good man from the horrific system that their parents, grandparents and even themselves have inflicted upon the Black community. It’s a tale of reckoning, as they come to terms with the fact that the monster they created is beyond their control. It forces white people to reflect on systemic racism and their own white privilege (particularly how white poverty still yields greater privilege than being a Black person of any wealth status in America). It’s a story of remorse and of awakening; it sends the reader on their own journey of racial reckoning. I believe that’s why people checked out the book.
This one was a reckoning for me... I haven't read Fried Green Tomatoes in a long time, but I do remember loving the book and the movie at the time... and now I have read all the quotes you pulled from the book and realize I didn't really read it, not really, not with an ear open to the actual words, not with a heart open to the full humanity of all the characters in the story, not with my eyes open to the constructs of racism that surrounds us always, in every single aspect of our lives here. Today I know better, so tomorrow I can, and will, do better. So much learning- and unlearning- to do! Thanks for shining a light in this space.
I *somehow* avoided the pitfalls of many of the most popular white savior narratives presented during my youth, but growing up in the south, they were still the prevailing narrative to understanding race. I have always been suspicious of things I am "supposed" to like, and it's probably the only reason I didn't fall all over myself to love these things, not because I was aware enough to know better. I do think it helped me be more open to the facts of the matter once I got to college and actually took an African American literature class where I was faced with the realization that being nice did not equal not being racist. I never once questioned the realization once it was presented to me, even though it was terribly uncomfortable. Thank you for sharing your always astute observations and giving a lot of us a chance to sit with uncomfortable realizations. I wish more people saw the value in these types of moments rather than immediately seeking the comfortable novocaine of lies we have learned to expect.
I am also worried.
Thank you for this. I dreaded reading it because I knew I was going to be shocked at my own deafness and blindness and I was. Many books/movies hit so differently after reexamination. It didn't age well. May we and our country age better and not try to return to these good old days. I'm sorry you had to visit them in the pages of this book.
To Kill a Mockingbird was required reading at my high school, and was the first book I’d ever read that discussed the lives and culture of African Americans. It was a milestone, and I’d guess the same is true for many white folks. At a glance it may seem awkward that a novel featuring a Black experience is written by a white author, but Harper Lee addresses her own ignorance of the nuances and history of Black culture by telling it from the perspective of a female child, who is trying to understand the world around her. The symbolism of Scout as our own white ignorance is very powerful, and reassures the reader that it’s okay to feel confused and surprised by the depth of a racial system we’ve been conditioned not to notice.
Unlike the Help or Hairspray, To Kill a Mockingbird never read to me as a white savior narrative. The white protagonists are aware that despite Atticus’s white privilege and status, he cannot save a good man from the horrific system that their parents, grandparents and even themselves have inflicted upon the Black community. It’s a tale of reckoning, as they come to terms with the fact that the monster they created is beyond their control. It forces white people to reflect on systemic racism and their own white privilege (particularly how white poverty still yields greater privilege than being a Black person of any wealth status in America). It’s a story of remorse and of awakening; it sends the reader on their own journey of racial reckoning. I believe that’s why people checked out the book.