I decided I need some diversity in my reading list, so on a recent (awesome) trip to Asheville, NC with my lovely wife, I picked up this Ta-Nehisi Coates’ best-seller, Between the World and Me. To say this has been a challenging yet revealing read is akin to saying Michael Phelps is good at swimming. Here’s an excerpt:
Very few Americans will directly proclaim that they are in favor of black people being left to the streets. But a very large number of Americans will do all they can to preserve the Dream. No one directly proclaimed that schools were designed to sanctify failure and destruction. But a great number of educators spoke of “personal responsibility” in a country authored by a criminal irresponsibility. The point of this language of “intention” and “personal responsibility” is broad exoneration. Mistakes were made. Bodies were broken. People were enslaved. We meant well. We tried our best. “Good intention” is a hall pass through history, a sleeping pill that ensures the Dream.
