Excellent August article

Congratulations to Lisa Brody for her excellent article about "Critical Race Theory" (August/Downtown). 

Are you the kind of American who wants to forget that anybody but White folks have had anything to do with our history; or, like me, are you inspired by a multi-cultural future unfolding before us?

I am as White as you can get, but I was blessed with a wake-up call while teaching at Spelman College, an historically Black College for Women. After being assigned only White material during my entire education, I was fascinated to be introduced to African American literature. Including it in my courses at the University of Wisconsin gave my students both an understanding of Black history and empathy with what Black lives are like.

Margaret Walker's novel Jubilee, for but one example, takes its hero Vyry through slavery, the Civil War, and reconstruction, evoking discussions of these events and the inner strength she drew upon to survive. 

There is a Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry just come out, and the Norton Anthology of African American Literature is in its third edition:  plenty of material to empower students of color while preparing White students for their multi-cultural future.

Dr. Annis Pratt

Professor Emerita

University of Wisconsin-Madison