Gettysburg
An essay titled “Why Do So Few Blacks Study the Civil War?” ponders a paradox. The Civil War was specifically fought over the fate and destiny of black America yet the historical accounts of that conflict are remarkably exclusive of that very same group. The consequences are expressed in metaphorical imagery boiled down to the author’s own experiences:
“Given this near-totemic reverence for black history, my trip to Gettysburg—the site of the ultimate battle in a failed war to protect and extend slavery—should cut like a lighthouse beam across the sea of memory. But when I look back on those years when black history was seen as tangible, as an antidote for the ills of the street, and when I think on my first visit to America’s original hallowed ground, all is fog.”
Trumpian Whiteness
Whiteness is a term generally used symbolically; it is, at its essence, a metaphor for experience rather than a prescription for it. The author argues that in the case of Donald Trump—and, by extension, his followers—this is not the case:
“…whereas his forebears carried whiteness like an ancestral talisman, Trump cracked the glowing amulet open, releasing its eldritch energies.”
White Supremacy
What is white supremacy? The question seems easy enough to answer, but that is true only if one is seeking to distill an incredibly complex concept down to such a simplistic level that even those who believe in white supremacy can understand it. You know, like on their very best day, intellectually speaking. Alas, for those people, the author is not interested in simplifying things:
“White supremacy is a crime and a lie, but it’s also a machine that generates meaning. This existential gift, as much as anything, is the source of its enormous, centuries-spanning power.”
How The Obamas Changed the World
The controlling metaphor of the book’s references to Barack and Michelle Obama is that their ascension to the White House genuinely changed the world. Both literally and symbolically, though not necessarily in easily intuited ways. In fact, understanding how the world changed almost requires the language of metaphor:
“It was as if I had spent my years jiggling a key into the wrong lock. The lock was changed. The doors swung open, and we did not know how to act.”
Moynihan v. Matriarchy
Daniel Patrick Moynihan is a figure who is not exactly an icon of conservative thought. Considered a paragon of liberal progressive democracy of the 1960’s, he is far removed from Goldwater’s foundation that brought about the Reagan neo-conservative revolution. And yet, despite this, he is also the man who is quoted as suggesting that the problem with black America is deeply entrenched its matriarchal disposition which sits in denial of the established truth—according to him, at least—that:
“The very essence of the male animal, from the bantam rooster to the four star general, is to strut"
