Rabbit Hole #37: The New York Times by the Book Tag

I stumbled across another fun book tag the other day on BookTube (I know; I'm addicted.) This one was created by Marie Berg, and you can watch her original video here: NY-Times By the Book Tag

The tag consists of ten questions, taken from a book of collected "By the Book" columns from The New York Times Book Review: 

1. What is currently on your nightstand? I currently have two books going: On Beauty by Zadie Smith and The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore. I never used to be a serial book reader, but I've found it is a lot of fun, and actually increases the number of books I read. I usually save fiction for bedtime, and the nonfiction for after work/evening reading.

2. What was the last truly great book you read? I just finished Gloria Steinem's My Life on the Road, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I am so in awe at everything she has accomplished in her lifetime, both for herself and women.

3. If you could meet any writer, dead or alive, who would it be? And what would you want to know?
Alive: There's a tie between Alice Walker and Toni Morrison. I am in love with their words and wisdom. I wouldn't even necessarily need to ask them anything, just being in their presence would be enough. Dead: Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes, for the same reasons. I would also love to sit down with Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald and hear their stories from the 1920s.

4. What books might we be surprised to find on your shelves? People who know me know I read just about everything, so I don't really know if anything would be a surprise.

5. How do you organize your personal library? On my main bookcase I have a section for poetry, then autobiography/memoir, biography, and general nonfiction. I also have the bulk of my fiction books followed by fantasy series (LOTR, HP, and Narnia) and YA. I have a small bookshelf that holds my short story collections and New Orleans books; another bookshelf with my plays, ancient/medieval texts, graphic novels, comic collections, literary and feminist theory, and writing guidebooks. I also have a couple of shelves with environmental and self-improvement books.
I may have a problem...

6. What book have you always meant to read and haven't gotten around to yet? Anything you feel embarrassed to have never read? There's a lot of Margaret Atwood's backlist that I still want to read, but other things keep getting in the way (I've read The Handmaid's Tale and the Maddaddam trilogy, of course). Embarrassed? As an English teacher, I always feel there are gaps that I should feel ashamed of--I've never read Dostoevsky or Dumas or or several of Shakespeare's plays--but I feel I'm widely enough read to make up for it.

7. Disappointing, overrated, or just not good--what book did you feel you were supposed to like but just didn't? Do you remember the last book you put down without finishing? The Magicians by Lev Grossman should have been the perfect book for me, but I just could not get into it. I didn't like the world building, the characters, or the writing style. The last book I put down without finishing is one I will come back to: The Crack-Up by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I love Fitzgerald, but this is an odd compilation of essays, 200 pages of his notes, letters, etc. It's just not something you can really sit down and read a large chunk of. It's nice to dip in and out of, though.

8. What kind of stories are you drawn to? Any you steer clear of? I really like fairy tale retellings or reworkings, fantasy, paranormal, and books dealing with political and social themes. I tend to stay away from traditional science fiction, mystery/thriller, and romance; although I will try anything if a person I trust recommends it!

9. If you could require the President to read one book, what would it be? Since President Obama already reads a lot, and widely, I'm going to recommend our next President, whomever he or she may be, to read Citizen by Claudia Rankine and The Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward.

10. What do you plan to read next? I have a reread of Native Son by Richard Wright for my book club, Barbara Kingsolver's collection of essays, Small Wonder, and the final book in the Lunar Chronicles series, Winter, by Marissa Meyer.


There you have it--my By the Book Tag. Let me know what your answers would be!

On Ferguson and White Privilege

"Imagine all the people...living life in peace...you may say I'm a dreamer...but I'm not the only one..."

John Lennon's words have been going through my head a lot since last night's disappointing, but not unexpected, announcement in the Michael Brown grand jury case. Six hours after the jury had announced that it had a decision, the prosecutor finally read the decision we all, really, knew was coming--Darren Wilson was not to be indicted for the murder of Michael Brown.

Not surprisingly, the emotions flared. And rightfully so. There are so many injustices still perpetrated on people of color in this country, and so many white people who refuse to see it.

"Racism is over!" they shout, as the Missouri KKK announces one of its largest increases in membership since President Obama's election, and promises to "take care of the terrorists" in Ferguson.

"I don't see color; I only see people!" they insist, as they use phrases like "thugs" and "terrorists" and "those people" to describe the protestors.

Langston Hughes once asked:

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?

Does it fester like a sore, and then run? 

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or does it crust and sugar over, like a syrupy sweet? 

Does it sag, like a heavy load?

Or does it explode? 

For too long, we've been telling the minority communities in this country that every thing is equal now, as they watch median incomes plummet, schools in their neighborhoods close, their young men and boys disproportionately sent to prison for crimes that whites are given probation for. Their dreams, promised to them by this country, have been deferred for too long. What we are seeing right now is the explosion. As I type this, there are protests in 37 states, as well as one at the U. S. embassy in London. People from all walks of life, all skin colors, are joining together to say

ENOUGH.

We're seeing a change coming. It won't happen over night, but change never does. But hopefully, this will be the start of something substantial. 

But. 

But. 

Those same white people I mentioned above? They're also saying, "stop protesting." "Justice has been done, what more do you want?" "The law was followed, there's nothing more to do." "What do these people want, more handouts?" 

And on, and on, and on. 

They refuse to see that they live a different life than the people directly affected by situations like Mike Brown or Trayvon Martin. Their white children will never have to worry about being stalked by police officers as they play basketball in the park, or drive around in their cars. They don't have to teach their sons to move slowly when they are around officers, to not make any sudden moves, so as not to appear threatening. Their white children can be pulled over by police officers and not have guns drawn immediately. People don't cross the street when they see a group of white boys walking down the sidewalk, or lock their car doors. 

We don't know what it's like. 

White privilege allowed a lot of us to go to bed last night knowing that what happened in Ferguson was a tragedy, yet also knowing that in a lot of ways it would never touch our lives. It allows us a level of security and power that others will never know, bestowed upon us simply because of the color of our skin. 

White privilege has nothing to do with how hard you've worked in your life. It has nothing to do with advantages you have or haven't been born with economically. It's the skin you're walking around in. The skin that allows you to distance yourself so easily from Trayvon's parents and Michael's parents. That makes it easy to say "trouble maker" or "thug" instead of child. That allows you to dismiss so much because, well, it isn't you. 

And yes, I know you have friends who are people of color. You may even have family members. Here's an idea. Talk to them. Ask them what life is really like for them. For some, yes, they may be lucky and not experience the injustice. But you may be surprised what you find out. 

The bottom line is, the fight that Dr. King and Malcolm X and all of the other leaders of the Civil Rights Movement began in the 1950s and 1960s is still continuing. We should be well on our way to the time when the protests that are happening now are not needed. Until then, all of us need to keep fighting. Because we are truly not living up to our ideals as a nation otherwise.