White self-congratulation on racial progress demands black gratitude.

Evidence

In his introduction to his 1985 collection of essays, The Price of the Ticket, Baldwin noted that America had become quick to congratulate itself on the progress it had made with regards to race, and that the country’s self-congratulation came with the expectation of black gratitude. (This was particularly the case with the election of the country’s first black president.) As Baldwin wrote, “People who have opted to be white congratulate themselves on their generous ability to return to the slave that freedom which they never had any right to endanger, much less take away. For this dubious effort…they congratulate themselves and expect to be congratulated.” The expectation was that he should feel “gratitude not only that my burden is…being made lighter but my joy that white people are improving.” — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Begin Again, 562

Categorization

• DEFINE: Reveals the mechanics of ‘the lie’: progress claims that function as a demand for black gratitude rather than dismantling of white supremacy.
• XREF: Connects to the reader’s goal of defending late Baldwin — this 1985 Baldwin reading anticipates contemporary critiques of liberal self-congratulation. — connects to: Segregationist preachers patronized Black audiences while demanding gratitude for past white charity — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the…, 248