Post 14: A Farewell to West

Well this is it… the end of reading Cornel West’s Race Matters for my Comm 300 class. I have to say that this book was definitely the more enjoyable of the two that we have been assigned thus far. I really enjoyed West’s epilogue. It was a good summarizing of the entire book and as he said “… a candid examination of race matters takes us to the core of the crisis of American democracy. And the degree to which race matters n the plight and predicament of fellow citizens is a crucial measure of whether we can keep alive the best of this democratic experiment we call America.” .(West 156)

I enjoyed how his hope for this book would help revitalize the race issue that plagues America and it left a lasting impression. He said that in regards to this “experiment” known as America we are now seeking overnight solutions and are hungry for change to the issues not facing just blacks, but most races in America as well as the minorities that live in this country such as the Homosexual Community… but how can we find quick solutions to a fundamental issue this country has been ignoring and neglecting for 188 years out of the 233 years we have been a country? He feels that we are very late in trying to make up for lost time… and its nearly too late but NOT too late!

I will end with this excerpt from West:

“In these downbeat times, we need as much hope and courage as we do vision and analysis; we must accent the best of each other even as we point out the vicious effects of our racial divide and the pernicious consequences of our misdistribution of wealth and power. We simply cannot enter the twenty-first century at each other’s throats, even as we acknowledge the weighty forces of racism, patriarchy, economic inequity, homophobia, and ecological abuse on our necks. Do we have the intelligence, humor, imagination, courage, tolerance, love, respect, and will to meet the challenge? Time will tell. None of us alone can save the nation or world. But each of us can make a positive difference if we commit ourselves to do so.” (West 159)