Race is artificial nonsense. And it all depends on who's selling what - cuz people will believe anything. Example: we know what we see with our own eyes. Whether you live to be ninety, or die young; that was your limited share of forever. But we're told from birth to sacrifice this life for the rewards of an unseen unknowable "afterlife." And most people believe that shit, either wholly or in the back of their minds. That's why soldiers die in battle - they've been conditioned to think others matter more than them. Conditioning works, but never in our own interest.
The author was told by his father that he's black and "don't you forget it." Even though his mother's white. Which I guess is the same for Barack Obama, Tiger Woods, and many other people. Williams uses the great soccer player Neymar as an example. In Brazil, if you're mixed race, i.e., part white, than you can't be black - which is the opposite of the American color rule. Now if this all sounds quite stupid, believe me, it is. About as intelligent as children trying to find the right crayons to color black and white people. But like I said, people will believe anything cuz they're just too dumb to think for themselves. Or too conditioned as "followers" to even try.
But let's back up and take a closer look at a couple things. Why would Williams senior tell his sons they're black...and warn them against the evils of white people. Well, he'd seen racism with his own eyes. And despite getting a PhD and sending his son to Georgetown, he was conditioned to believe that success for black people depends entirely on one's own doing. That it is accomplished in spite of the "repressive system" and not because this system, imperfect as it is, still has room for anyone to achieve whatever they set their sights on.
Reminds me of a story my friend Gene told me when we were in high school. Gene's dad had fought for America in the Korean War (as young men are conditioned to do). But while in the Army, his best friend got in a fight with a black soldier and was killed. So Gene's dad forever impressed upon him the evil of black people. I argued this with him and he responded "how would you feel if your dad's best friend was killed by a black man?" Death, you see, is pretty much an end to someone's eternity. So it's rather final.
And fifty years later, here we are, unconvinced still. But the author decides not to be black anymore. After the soul searching angst of renouncing "the long struggle" against oppression; as well as all the greatness of black people - he's decided that these and all other facets that made him black for thirty years (or thirty centuries) no longer define or limit him. Seems simple enough since by all appearances, Williams is viewed by others as Mediterranean or Arab or whatever "the other" sees as similarity.
But is this the blueprint for how we should view race?
I've an analogy. In the movie Odds Against Tomorrow Harry Belafonte and Robert Ryan hate each other because of race. It's part of the plot, but needn't be. Belafonte and Ryan could hate each other because they're so different: Belafonte, the handsome young carefree night club singer with the pretty wife and beautiful little daughter. Ryan the older, bitter, uneducated loner. Belafonte is loved and admired by all; Ryan isn't. They're opposites who despise what the other represents. But it really has nothing to do with race.
No doubt the ability to push this hatred on camera is made easier since Ryan and Belafonte were friends off camera, so no worries about acting out "hate" in a movie. Their mutual friend in the show, Ed Begley, doesn't care about race. He just wants them to get along so they can all rob a bank together. And that's the whole key - to work together for mutual success. It's a great film, but with a very gloomy title.
Back to Williams' story. Cinematically, Williams' father should have failed miserably just to prove the point of "systemic oppression." And (in the movie version) should've made sure his sons continue a tradition of failure. But he doesn't. He ensures his own success and that of his children. But sadly, not everyone does. It seems we're so conditioned to accepting failure, we instinctively act out these roles - accepting how others define us instead of being bold enough to define ourselves. If that's the message Williams wants to convey - read & heed.
