Write a paragraph-like unit (claim, evidence, explanation) that says something about HR 40 and engages with Coates. (This paragraph might be more like a summary/description; it might start to signal your view on HR 40’s nonpassage.)

Black people have been discriminated against in America basically since the birth of this country, so it should come as no surprise that they wish for reparations to be made. However, I don’t believe America is ready to make up for all it has done and admit it’s faults. One suggestion that has been made for such reparations is a bill called HR 40. This bill, introduced by John Conyers Jr., “[calls] for a congressional study of slavery and its lingering effects as well as recommendations for ‘appropriate remedies’” (Coates 20).  HR 40 clearly lays out a plan to begin reparations but Americans do not want to hear it. Coates explains, “…HR 40 has never—under either Democrats or Republicans—made it to the House floor suggests our concerns are rooted not in the impracticality of reparations but in something more existential. If we conclude that the conditions in North Lawndale and black America are not inexplicable but are instead precisely what you’d expect of a community that for centuries has lived in America’s crosshairs, then what are we to make of the world’s oldest democracy?” (21). In saying this, Coates is trying to explain that it is not the idea of reparations that is scaring away the country, rather it is the idea that they will have to admit the faults of our government and the very foundation of our country. If we admit that the veins of racism run deep in our foundation then we admit that nothing will ever truly change unless we rip down the current one and build up a new one.  America prides itself on being the great, admitting that greatness has come at an astronomical price to anyone other than the white man would surely rip down the facade of impenetrable greatness we have put up.  

Write a paragraph-like unit (claim, evidence, explanation) that connects a specific passage in Coates to a specific passage in one of our other texts (Dweck, Lukianoff and Haidt, Scheuer, Ungar).

Racism and discrimination are not a problem of the past, they are real and pressing issues still plaguing this country. America, however, chooses to ignore this for the sake of protecting the image of equality they have forged in their own minds. Coates states, “One cannot escape the question by hand-waving at the past, disavowing the acts of one’s ancestors, nor by citing a recent date of ancestral immigration. The last slaveholder has been dead for a very long time. The last soldier to endure Valley Forge has been dead much longer. To proudly claim the veteran and disown the slaveholder is patriotism à la carte” (21). Coates means that this selective patriotism is simply a cop out. It is beyond unfair to idolize our founding fathers but only the good parts of them. You cannot erase history no matter how hard you try to ignore it. Lukianoff and Haidt explain that emotional reasoning can be defined as, “You let your feelings guide your interpretation of reality” (Common Cognitive Distortions). What Americans are doing is choosing to let themselves believe that the past is in the past and has no effect on the current future simply because it is not affecting them. They would much rather continue to believe the builders of this country’s foundation were able to build us up from the ground on sheer ambition and perseverance and hard work rather than realizing the only reason we have reached the top is by taking advantage of our power and forcing down anyone different. That tactic of pushing everyone other than the white man down has been used for centuries and is still rampaging the country. Alas, the emotional reasoning is forcing so many people to ignore what is happening right beneath their noses. 

Write a paragraph-like unit that connects a passage in Coates to a passage to a passage from a different text we’ve read.

The United States simply is not yet ready to admit that the very foundation they stand upon is surging with the voice of discrimination. They are stuck in the fear of what might happen to the facade of equality this country has put up if they acknowledge the rotten hatred beneath their feet.  Carol Dweck explains that students with a fixed mindset, “ [felt that] their intelligence had been up for judgment, and they failed. Instead of luxuriating in the power of yet, they were gripped in the tyranny of now” (00:35). Similarly, Americans caught up in their fixed mindsets are fearing the judgement that would incur if they admit their wrong doing. Instead of believing that they can grow and do better they choose to believe that they are already the best. They think that if there is room for improvement and betterment then they won’t be perceived as great anymore.  Coates states that, “Perhaps after a serious discussion and debate—the kind that HR 40 proposes— we may find that the country can never fully repay African Americans. But we stand to discover much about ourselves in such a discussion—and that is perhaps what scares us. The idea of reparations is frightening not simply because we might lack the ability to pay. The idea of reparations threatens something much deeper—America’s heritage, history, and standing in the world” (47).  This country’s fixed mindset is holding us back from actual deep introspection and allowing ourselves to admit there is a problem that we must begin to fix.