Christopher Schroeder

Category: national

  • Saving Others and Ourselves

    I recently reread Colson Whitehead’s (2019) The Nickel Boys, which seemed more compelling the second time.

    This story, which will appear on big screens as a new movie this fall, is based upon an actual Florida reformatory school, which Whitehead reportedly encountered on social media after a local university uncovered unmarked graves on its grounds. From here, he researched and then built a story about 1960s Jim Crow abuse as experienced by two protagonists Elwood Curtis and Jack Turner, which later won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

    One reviewer (Rich 2019) claims that this book attests to the American failure to confront its history and to reenact its worst parts. I agree but actually think the book is even more bleak, especially in the way it exposes the limits of literacy and education.

    (more…)

  • Community Connections

    I was disappointed by the National Night Out, which was promoted as a way of connecting police to communities.

    I had walked along the sidewalk to Lake Street and then made my way down the middle of State Street to Randolph. A band played in the middle of the street. Several tents promoted services. Canine handlers had their dogs. Food lines were long.

    Nothing was noteworthy, so I walked to the corner of Randolph toward home. I had the white walk light and stood in the crosswalk next to a police officer, who continued to wave through left-turning cars from the opposite direction.

    The traffic light turned yellow and then read. The officer asked me to step back.

    “I was trying to cross with the light,” I said, “but you wouldn’t stop waving traffic.”

    She gave me a side-eye. “That’s why we’re here,” she said.

    To prevent pedestrians from crossing the street? I wanted to say but didn’t want to press my luck.

    Others approached. I hoped one or more would press ahead just to see what the officer would say. None did.

    The walk light flipped white again. I shook my head and re-entered the crosswalk. So much for connecting with the community.

  • Candidates and Choices

    President Biden visited a nearby hotel for a fundraiser last night. Following him were pro-Palestinian protestors, including one speaker who pledged not to vote in the upcoming election.

    Like her, I am less than thrilled by the current presidential prospects. I wish like many that we had better, or at least other, options.

    Some might suggest that we do — RFK Jr. is one, and Cornel West could be another — and they’re right if a candidate consists of someone who is running. They would be wrong however if the definition of a candidate is someone who can win, or who could actually become president, in which case we must choose between two.

    Our political system once again has generated only two possible people who can realistically become president. That, and the larger two-part system, might be limitations or flaws, but the time to address such issues isn’t an election year.

    This year, the choice is perhaps clearer than usual. Both viable candidates have demonstrated how they would govern, and past performance might not guarantee future performance but can allow for informed predictions.

    Such predictions are even more informed after recent interviews. For example, the Republican candidate who has called for suspending the Constitution joked about being a dictator and suggested a possible rejection of the results.

    The choice this time for these and other reasons, isn’t one about policy differences. Rather, it’s a decision about the existence of this American experiment, which while having failed at times has persistent and evolved.

    The stakes seem even higher after the recent court decisions this week to delay the Georgia and Florida cases, which will likely mean that this election will occur without a clarification of facts or any accountability for actions. As a result, no reasonable person could have any doubt about whether to vote or to vote for a third-party candidate or even which candidate to choose.