My Thoughts on Letters in Black and White

Erec SmithOn Friday, June 2nd at 3  PM, Cato will hold a book forum on the newly publishedLetters in Black and White: A  New Correspondence of Race in America.This book is a  epistolary correspondence between a white woman (Jennifer Richmond) and a black man (Winkfield Twyman). This book models civil discourse on race and illustrates how dialogue about this touchy subject can be difficult yet generative and, ultimately, worth it.I am proud to have written theForeword for this book. In that Foreword, available for free inThe Journal of Free Black Thought, I  explain what I see as the book’s primary benefit.Twyman and Richmond provide us with profound lessons: the power of immersion into cultural pluralities that shed light on our commonalities while appreciating our differences; the detriments of dogma and empty sloganeering; the necessity to define ourselves by our present and not our past; the importance of a  black history that celebrates triumph as much as tragedy, etc. I  could go on—and the reader will no doubt uncover their own lessons—but my main point is that a dialogue between two people can hold a trove of insights, considerations, and facts that power us toward that Blessed Society.This is a  valuably informative and entertaining book. “Edutainment, ” the hybridization of “education” and “entertainment,” is achieved! And what better way to convey such an important message. As I write in the foreword:I truly believe that it is exactl...

Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 25, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Erec Smith Source Type: blogs