What is Man?

June 28,  2010

Dear Mr. Chesnutt,

         

               I have had the pleasure of reading your 1889 article entitled, "What is a White man?" and all of its intricacies, regarding the warped concept of race held by the ruling class at the time. However, there are two main ideas in your paper, which seemed to stick out the most. More specifically, the concept of racial lines and the problems they present when in the presence of people with mixed backgrounds. As much as I wish that these problems were no longer plaguing society, I cannot deny their existence nor their significant influence in modern society. What's even more troubling is the fact that these problems have evolved for the worse and have further muddled America's view on races.

               I'd like to start off by discussing the idea of racial lines with the significance of the actual wording "racial lines". In your time, racial lines could potentially be drawn based on the amount of African descent blood in individuals. By tracing ones lineage, one could get a clear cut sense of what you were and in essence "draw racial lines" or distinctions between your bloodlines. As thoroughly explained by you, states believed so strongly in this process and in defining these lines that they continued to build their racist culture on this foundation. One quote in particular that caught my eye stated:

   " 'It is further provided that "the marriage relation between white persons and persons of African

      descent is forever prohibited, and such marriages shall be null and void.'...A court which was so

      inclined would find no difficulty in extending this provision of the law to the remotest strain of 

      African blood.  The marriage relation is forever prohibited. Forever is a long time."

Indeed Mr. Chesnutt, forever is a long time. One could go so far as to argue that it seems as if an "eternity" has passed since those times with all the new developments and changes that American culture has recently undergone, including the mixture of race. This brings me back to my discussion on the idea of "racial lines" and how it applies to society today.

               For you see the mixing of cultures has become so widespread, I argue distinct lines can no longer be drawn without a significant amount of effort or without proof of ones heritage. Even then their always exists feeling of doubt and uncertainty in these findings. Ironically, however, the lack of clear cut racial lines has further complicated issues by causing people to feel the need to define these "lines" for themselves in the hopes of finding who or what they represent. This in turn has resulted in mass confusion throughout the country from the perspective of the government and even in the eye of the people. Your government foresaw this potential problem surfacing and responded by creating a separate category "Mulatto" in an attempt to appease those searching for an answer. Well in todays society, that's simply not enough and the issue has finally been noticed after piling up from being swept under the rug for so long.

              Times have changed, racial discrepancies have continued and as always we are left with more questions than answers on how to solve the problems. The single question of What is a White man? Has evolved  incorporating other similar questions such as What is a Black Man? What is a Mexican Man? What is an Asian Man?.... Unfortunately, we are no closer to answering these questions, than you were in answering your question. Maybe we should searching on the answer to so many questions and focus on one that could potentially solve all our racial problems. What is Man?

Best,

Mike Mendoza