Compassion

Via coffeeem, a piece by Ta-Nehisi Coates on understanding and compassion. Coates is always a pleasure to read, but this essay is above even his usual standard of skill and grace. (For those who might not know, Coates is African-American. In the essay he's talking about a reading a book on women in slave-holding families, and its effect on him.)

To answer such a question, it is not enough to understand cause of the Civil War. A debate over the meaning of the Confederate Flag is almost beside the point. You have to remove the cloak of the partisan, and assume the garb of the thespian. Instead of prosecuting the Confederate perspective, you have to interrogate it, and ultimately assume it. In no small measure, to understand them, you must become them. For me to seriously consider the words of the slave-holder, which is to say the mind of the slave-holder, for me to see them as human beings, as full and as complicated as anyone else I know, a strange transcendence is requested. I am losing my earned, righteous skin. I know that beef is our birthright, that all our grievance is just. But for want of seeing more, I am compelled to let it go.

Go read it. It's wonderful and thoughtful. I intend to work on my ability to assume the thespian's cloak.