racism

Book Review of The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

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The First Ladies introduces us to two influential women of different races who become friends in 1927. Mary McLeod Bethune is an African American woman who founds Bethune Cookman College in Daytona, Florida on the site of a garbage dump. The school serves underprivileged black girls. She also finds funding for McLeod Hospital when her students are turned away by other hospitals due to their race. The book’s other main character is Eleanor Roosevelt, who by 1927 bought Todhunter School for girls and is teaching there. She also works with the Women’s Division of the New York Democratic Party to get women to vote for Democratic candidates.

Though they accomplished much by themselves, Eleanor and Mary accomplished far more together. As Eleanor’s husband Franklin Delano Roosevelt returns to public life after his polio diagnosis, Mary has Eleanor in the New York governor’s mansion and eventually in the White House to turn to when she wants more done about racism.

In the early 1930’s when FDR is still governor, Mary tells Eleanor details about lynchings that are happening in the North as well as the South. Eleanor says, “silence suggests agreement, and anyone who knows about these terrible acts—including me—should take a stand against them. Mrs. Bethune has offered me an entirely different lens through which I should be examining the racism in our country.” As a result of Mary’s friendship, Eleanor begins to take a stronger stance against racism. When FDR is elected president, Eleanor and Mary try to get his approval for an anti-lynching bill. Though FDR makes public speeches condemning lynching, they cannot get his support for the bill.

Despite some setbacks, Mary and Eleanor brainstorm ways to help blacks during the Great Depression. Eleanor asks, “How shall we begin to ensure that the New Deal is indeed for everyone?” They plan to get black people into administrative positions in the government as well as finding them jobs. For example, Eleanor recommends Mary to a position with the National Youth Administration. After Mary speaks to FDR about the importance of funding for black youth, he decides to create a division within the NYA to focus on the needs of blacks and puts Mary in charge. In three months, Mary doubles the funding for NYA’s Division of Negro Affairs.

Just as Mary changes Eleanor’s opinions on racial issues, her friendship with Eleanor changes how Mary votes. She voted against FDR when he first ran for president, but she votes for his second term because blacks are now included in New Deal programs.

During FDR’s second term, Mary makes a persuasive speech to him about including blacks in pilot and combat training and adding more black army units. Mary and her male allies in the black community also get FDR’s promise to issue an executive order ending discrimination in the military. Yet the bill languishes on the president’s desk for so long that the black community threatens to stage a mass protest in Washington, D.C. Fortunately, Eleanor convinces him to sign the bill, preventing the protest.

I always feel that the main job of historical fiction is to make readers interested in learning more about the topics in it. The First Ladies succeeded in making me want to find out more about Mary McLeod Bethune, who I knew almost nothing about before. The dual points of view of Mary and Eleanor worked well, though I could’ve done without some of the details of Eleanor’s childhood. To be fair, I know more about Eleanor Roosevelt from reading biographies about her, so less familiar readers may not mind the extra information.

My main criticism of the book is that it put Mary and Eleanor together in important historical situations when they were in different places. For example, Eleanor visits the Tuskegee Institute’s airfield to make a point about how safe it is to fly with an African American pilot. The book includes Mary on this trip even though she wasn’t there. Fortunately, incidents like this are rare in the book (it only happens twice). I realize the book is historical fiction but feel it’s important to maintain historical accuracy whenever possible.

This is the second historical fiction book I’ve read recently that explores the power of female friendships, and in this case, what female friends can accomplish together. I enjoyed the focus on friendship rather than a romantic relationship. The First Ladies shows Eleanor and Mary as true friends, despite the racism of the time. As Victoria Christopher Murray wrote in her author’s note, “at the core of any relationship is trust, and Eleanor and Mary had that. They trusted each other and felt free to share, to laugh, to cry…and sometimes even get annoyed with each other.” I recommend The First Ladies to anyone looking to explore the wonderful friendship between an influential black woman and an influential white one.

Passing by Nella Larsen: An Unforgettable Novella about Race

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When I heard that a movie adaptation of Nella Larsen’s Passing was coming to Netflix on November 10, 2021, I had to share my review of the 1929 novella. I also had a rare urge to acquire a Netflix subscription.

Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry are two light-skinned African-American women who played together as children in Chicago. They are so light skinned that one of them–Clare–decided to pass as white. Clare got what she thought she wanted: marriage to a wealthy white man, a seemingly white daughter, and the status conferred upon attractive and successful white people in American society.

Yet as the novel opens, Irene has just received a letter from Clare, begging Irene to reintroduce her to African American friends and to attend their social gatherings. She reminds Irene of the time they ran into each other in Chicago as adults. When they meet, Clare invites Irene back to her hotel where she introduces Irene to her husband Jack Bellow. Bellow makes his hatred for all African Americans clear, even jokingly calling his wife Nig because of how brown her skin gets in the sun.

Book Cover

Though she doesn’t give Clare’s secret away, Irene is appalled by the encounter. Irene is married to a darker skinned man and one of her two children would also not pass for white. She decides not to answer Clare’s most recent letter and tears it up. But Clare reappears in Irene’s life, coaxing Irene to help her renter African American society. Both Clare’s and Irene’s reactions to this second encounter have consequences for them both.

I thought I read the complete novella in college but when I reached the ending I realized I had only read part of it. I won’t discuss the ending, except to say that it is both brilliant and surprising. I read Passing months ago and still can’t stop thinking about it.

Larsen’s story shows the advantages of passing as white along with the disadvantages. Clare has more status as a perceived white woman, but Irene is her authentic self and remains part of black culture and society.

Nella Larsen is an underrated author who dealt with issues of identity that continue to effect the African American community in the 21st century. I hope that the new movie will encourage more people to read Larsen’s work.

After Dallas: Searching for Peace in a Violent World

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In the wake of the Dallas shootings and others across the United States this week, I have felt at a loss for words. This is not a good feeling for a writer, but so much senseless violence, whether motivated by racism or fear or just hate has made me stuck.

I did find this quote from Shakespeare, however.

“How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds / Make deeds ill done!” –Shakespeare, King John.

We need to make it more difficult for people to do ill deeds. I believe that people have a right to own guns to protect themselves and their families from people who would harm them. However, I don’t think the Founding Fathers could have envisioned semi-automatic weapons or rogue police officers. The proliferation and misuse of weapons isn’t our only problem, though.

We also have racism.

The Founding Fathers didn’t envision a society where people who did not look exactly like them would rightfully demand equal rights under the law. All men are created equal? The fine words of the U.S. Constitution didn’t remotely ring true in the 18th century. This week’s events, among others, has made it clear that we still fall short of thinking that everyone is equal.

Many of the Founding Fathers committed “ill deeds” by owning slaves. Sometimes the slaves escaped or even managed to revolt and use weapons against their masters. In many ways, our country still suffers from the evils of slavery.

White and black people too often look at each other with distrust. And when a gun is handy for either side, the results are often disastrous.

Babies aren’t naturally born with a racist gene. They have to be taught to distrust someone who looks different from them. Laws that limit the sale of weapons that only need to be used in war and require background checks are all well and good. However, if children continue to be taught by their families or by their everyday experiences to hate people who are not just like them, ill deeds will be perpetuated.