An Abandoned Book #Sunday Salon
Happy Sunday! Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at ReaderBuzz. Check out her post and the links to see what other bloggers have been up to in the last week.
How’s the weather?
Our big snow is nearly melted after a couple of warmer days. We have a few more warm days ahead. We’re supposed to get a high over 60 degrees on Tuesday before we get another cold front. So, the snow will be gone next week and our next system will be warm enough to bring rain instead of snow. I enjoyed the snow we got this season, but I’m willing to have no more if that can be arranged.
What are you reading?
Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America by Michael Harriot is a long book, like all histories that cover a few centuries. Our book group meeting is February 19, so I still have time to finish this.
For a class, I’m reading Nice Racism : How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm by Robin DiAngelo, who is probably best known for her earlier book, White Fragility. I have lots of moments of “well, I don’t behave like that anymore.” But, that bit of superiority over those “other” white people is part of the problem. I want to lodge myself firmly in the group of people who need to take responsibility for ending racism in all of our systems, all of which I continue to benefit from as a white person.
Also, I have “oops!” moments of realizing that there are still thoughts and behaviors planted in my brain that are problematic–some that I’m barely conscious of and, I suspect, others that I’m not conscious of at all. Anti-racism in myself is a lifetime journey.
Anti-racism in our systems may be achieved one day, but only with a lot of focused work. And, only after we stop planting white supremacist ideas in a few generations of white children.
Reading the above two books, together, made it impossible for me to ignore a problem in Nora Roberts’ latest book The Seven Rings. This is the third in the “Lost Bride Trilogy.” I read the first two books and they had the same problem which bugged me, but not quite enough to quit reading. I can’t get past it a third time, so I abandoned the book after the Prologue.
The Lost Bride Trilogy is all about a family that sprang from an 18th-century ship builder in Maine. The patriarch made plenty of money. The generational wealth carried through to the present day enabling descendants who are successful professionals and business owners. A grand house remains in the family.
Here’s the question that remains unanswered: What (or rather who) was the cargo in those 18th and 19th-century ships? I feel insulted that Nora Roberts doesn’t know that her readers would ask that question and be bothered by the refusal of the text to grapple with it. Since I’m reading Nice Racism, I fear that she’s correct that her mostly white audience won’t ask that question or will be relieved that it’s glossed over so that we can get on with the romance.
Fortunately, my hold came through for The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon. So, that’s the novel that I’m reading on the rare days that I have completed my reading for the day in both my book club book and my class book.
What are you watching or listening to?
I’m tuning into the Olympics as much as possible.
I took a look at the prospects for Team GB on Friday.
I wrote down a quote from the IOC president at the Opening Ceremony: “The best of humanity is found in courage, compassion, and kindness.” I wish that for the athletes, coaches, judges, volunteers, and journalists. May they find a way to bring the best of humanity home to the rest of us.
What are you doing?
With a few of my neighbors, we’ll be talking to school board candidates this month to remind them that we care about equity in schools in our district. We met on Saturday afternoon to organize our effort. As we’re learning from Minnesotans, community is the super-power of ordinary people.