James Baldwin, asked and answered

There is a conversation that pops up in circles of friends-of-a-certain-age. It begins with a question or observation: this feels like 1968 all over again.

In some ways it does, in some ways it doesn’t, or so says historian Heather Ann Thompson, but it may not matter either way to the unfolding of the fire this time. Time passes, and we know we can’t step in the same river twice. But given the long history of systemic racism, its debilitating effects, and people’s resistance, it’s not surprising that history echoes.

Back then, many White Americans asked why about the protests and riots. Fewer are asking now, more understand, but enough still seem to ask. In 1968, folks asked James Baldwin. His response is worth revisiting.