Meaningful reckoning requires whites to confront their own violent history.
Evidence
But the examples in this chapter are best understood as initial tremors, which are only beginning to disturb the stubborn footings of 150 years of post–Civil War white supremacy. Ultimately, the construction of a new foundation will require white Americans to do something we have never been willing to do: reanimate our own histories and confront a violent and unflattering past. — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 451
Categorization
- ADDENDUM: Bookends the reader’s ‘sacrifice’ and ‘roundtable’ material on how nations metabolize complicity: the sacred weapon framing of monuments as perpetual assertion.
- XREF: connects to: White Christian leaders perform lament that denies reparative demands — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 166; Retributive racial violence functioned to reassure whites of racial dominance — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 633; People carry history within themselves and must battle it to become more humane. — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America…, 277 (+1 more)
Broader Connections
- Slavery’s principal enduring harm is the corruption of white attitudes
#corroborates(0.80) — Dorothy A. Brown, Getting to Reparations, 582 - Retributive racial violence functioned to reassure whites of racial dominance
#expands(0.75) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 633 - People carry history within themselves and must battle it to become more humane.
#expands(0.72) — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Begin Again, 277