112 pages • 3 hours read
Jesmyn WardA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Before You Read
Summary
“The Tradition” by Jericho Brown
Introduction by Jesmyn Ward
“Homegoing, AD” by Kima Jones
“The Weight” by Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah
“Lonely in America” by Wendy S. Walters
“Where Do We Go from Here?” by Isabel Wilkerson
“‘The Dear Pledges of Our Love’: A Defense of Phillis Wheatley’s Husband” by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
“White Rage” by Carol Anderson
“Cracking the Code” by Jesmyn Ward
“Queries of Unrest” by Clint Smith
“Blacker Than Thou” by Kevin Young
“Da Art of Storytellin’ (a Prequel)” by Kiese Laymon
“Black and Blue” by Garnette Cadogan
“The Condition of Black Life Is One of Mourning” by Claudia Rankine
“Know Your Rights!” by Emily Raboteau
“Composite Pops” by Mitchell S. Jackson
“Theories of Time and Space” by Natasha Trethewey
“This Far: Notes on Love and Revolution” by Daniel José Older
“Message to My Daughters” by Edwidge Danticat
Key Figures
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Kevin Young’s fragmentary essay begins with a quote from the movie The Jerk, starring Steve Martin. In the film, Martin’s character, a white man, claims he “was born a poor black child…” (101), a comic statement that links blackness with misfortune. This white conception recalls Rachel Dolezal, the white woman who claimed to be black and was publicly outed in 2015.
White people have historically used blackface as a costume, which suggests they see black skin as an aberration of white skin. Young discusses his upcoming book, which explores con artists of various kinds. He wonders if Dolezal fits with his book’s theme or not. He lists joke titles that certain Twitter users suggested for Dolezal’s memoir. A black person’s skin is an inevitable element of their identity, one that attracts prejudice.
All black people diverge from common conceptions of blackness; furthermore, unity among black people surpasses “stereotypical qualities that may be reproducible, imitable, even marketable” (103). Americans passing for a race other than their own began with Thomas Jefferson.
Young wryly notes that one does not elect to be black, nor is one hired. He jokes, “It’s more like a long internship with a chance of advancement” (104).
By Jesmyn Ward