A review by f_castellanos
The Movement Made Us: A Generational Fight for Civil Rights by David J. Dennis Jr., David J. Dennis Sr.
2.0
This is one of the books that HAD to be written. The Movement Made Us is one of the bravest stories I’ve ever read, as its writing and publishing seem to have put a father-son relationship at stake. We follow the father’s story: a young Dave Dennis fighting in the Black Movement in 1960s Mississippi and Louisiana. And through its narration, we also experience his relationship with his son, born decades later, who had to endure trauma from Dave Sr.’s inevitable parental absence. I appreciate the story and its intentions more than I can explain, it tells an otherwise untold story of the hardships of Black people throughout the last 60 years, but I have a slight problem with it. In the fight for equality, we seek exactly that: equality. And that is equality of perception, treatment, and law. Read this:
"…white identity is indelibly linked to white supremacy and the degradation, violence, and oppression white people have wrought on America for four hundred years."
How can one protest hate speech against their own only to mirror it unto another group? That is not to say that I am in favor of white supremacy in the least, being white, I stand with all those who participated in the Freedom Summer Project (The story of Rita and Michael Schwerner is as inspiring as can be) and I hope that one day we reach true equality of races. But to me, it’s deeply problematic that someone marks me as a white supremacist only because I identify as white, and this image appears to be no different than some white people’s denomination of all African Americans as robbers.
I might be mistaken to believe that racism can be reciprocal, just as African Americans were once victims of hate, every day, as equality becomes tangible, I see the power to evolve into being the perpetrators come closer to them. They must be careful not to bury themselves in hate and anger, just as the spiteful and barbaric white supremacists of the past and present did and still do, because if they are not careful, they may become just like them.
"…white identity is indelibly linked to white supremacy and the degradation, violence, and oppression white people have wrought on America for four hundred years."
How can one protest hate speech against their own only to mirror it unto another group? That is not to say that I am in favor of white supremacy in the least, being white, I stand with all those who participated in the Freedom Summer Project (The story of Rita and Michael Schwerner is as inspiring as can be) and I hope that one day we reach true equality of races. But to me, it’s deeply problematic that someone marks me as a white supremacist only because I identify as white, and this image appears to be no different than some white people’s denomination of all African Americans as robbers.
I might be mistaken to believe that racism can be reciprocal, just as African Americans were once victims of hate, every day, as equality becomes tangible, I see the power to evolve into being the perpetrators come closer to them. They must be careful not to bury themselves in hate and anger, just as the spiteful and barbaric white supremacists of the past and present did and still do, because if they are not careful, they may become just like them.