45 pages • 1 hour read
Michael Eric DysonTears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter 5, Section 2Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 5, Section 2: “Being Black in America”
Chapter 5, Section 2, Part 4 Summary: “N*****”
Dyson analyzes the impact of the n-word, arguing that it has defined and stereotyped Black people within American society. Dyson mentions that as a young boy, he and his mother had been called the racial slur, and recalls his first realization of racial hatred. He notes that the word hurt Black men’s manhood. His mother insisted they hide the incident from his father.
Dyson explains that the n-word may be obscured and avoided, but the bigotry it represents persists. The word “condenses the history of hate and the culture of violence” against Black people (132). Dyson encourages white people to eliminate from their minds the stereotype of Black identity that the n-word represents. He argues that the n-word is a product of the white imagination, a representation of white people’s fears projected on Black people. White Americans must familiarize themselves with “Blackness,” with the history and culture that represents “Black humanity.”
Dyson notes that the n-word stereotype has impacted the Black mind by generating self-hate. He downplays his own social position as a respected professor, minister, and intellectual, one that represents a fictional privilege, and identifies with all Black people. Ultimately, white America views Blackness either as respectable and institutionalized or as criminal and violent. For Dyson, both versions add up to the stereotype the n-word represents.
For America to heal from racial division, Black and white people must recognize their “shared culture and existence” (142). Dyson stresses that equality is possible. White Americans must reject stereotypes and be open to Black humanity. This is key to democracy and America’s social progress.
Chapter 5, Section 2, Part 5 Summary: “Our Own Worst Enemy?”
Dyson notes that white Americans often use criminality among African Americans as an argument against them. Dyson describes poor Black neighborhoods as “the geography of despair” (144). Black people’s pain and lack of control over their lives often turn them against one another. He explains to white Americans that they do not understand the hopelessness of the marginalized Black communities and remain indifferent to the killings of Black people by the police. Again, Dyson stresses that police officers are rarely condemned for their actions. He counters white Americans’ argument that Black people kill each other at higher rates.
Dyson mentions statistics and notes that white-on-white crimes are the highest in the country. However, white experts have historically claimed that Black families and neighborhoods are responsible for their own problems, as Black criminality is used to serve a political narrative. For Dyson, such arguments fail to address the lack of socioeconomic resources as a systemic problem. Dyson addresses gun violence and mentions that deaths by gun violence are higher than deaths by terrorist attacks.
Dyson argues that whiteness manages to instill hatred into the Black mind. White supremacy and bigotry often generate “self-hate” and make Black people view themselves through the lens of white people. As an example, Dyson mentions sexism toward Black women in the Black church. As a minister, Dyson was criticized by Black people for addressing “the parallels between sexism and racism” and for his lighter skin (154). Dyson concludes that gender discrimination and “colorism,” where lighter skin is favored, are harmful for African Americans. White supremacy leads Black people to value and simultaneously resent lighter skin as a privilege. Additionally, by tending to imitate whiteness, Black people can discriminate on the basis of class or sexual orientation.
Dyson refers to the reappropriation of the n-word by Black people as a means of challenging white imagination. He counters the argument that the use of the word by the Black community perpetuates the mentality of inequality and notes that Black people are still considered as “other” in American society.
Chapter 5, Section 2, Part 6 Summary: “Coptopia”
Dyson returns to police brutality, which perplexes white people. He explains that white Americans do not realize the terror and fear generated by police violence. For Dyson, the problem with law enforcement is its denial of Black humanity, as the Constitution has historically denied Black humanity. Dyson himself has experienced intimidation by the police. He feels that Black people still struggle to persuade white society of their humanity.
Dyson states that “to be Black in America is to live in terror” (177). Because of race, Black people are “relentlessly monitored and policed” (177). White America fails to condemn the police, who act like terrorists and easily take Black lives in the streets. Dyson urges white Americans to understand that for Black people, the police is a force of terror that threatens Black communities and sees Black individuals as criminals. He connects police violence to slavery, emphasizing the practice of policing of Black bodies throughout American history. He condemns white silence about the problem of police violence.
Dyson rejects the idea that the problem of police brutality rests on a few biased policemen, which is an argument that obscures institutional racism. The police are impacted by social assumptions and racist stereotypes about Black people. Black people are also more likely to be stopped by the police, and are thus more likely to experience police violence. Black police officers often face discrimination themselves.
Ultimately, Dyson emphasizes that Black people do not hate the police or white America. White Americans must acknowledge the racial terror and violence inflicted by the police against Black people or they will continue to die in the streets.
Chapter 5, Section 2 Analysis
Dyson devotes a chapter to discussing the n-word. He extends its meaning to offer social criticism. The n-word is not only a racial slur, but represents a dominant stereotype of Black people in American society. Even if white Americans avoid its use and obscure the word, the racial hatred and bigotry it represents remains in the white imagination. Dyson also connects the word to the historical oppression of Black manhood. The word conveys the historical legacy of hate and violence against African Americans.
The n-word is charged with the fears and grievances of white people. In any context white people use it, the n-word suggests “intimidation and destruction” (133). The word has defined and distorted the diversity of Blackness and remains a collective stereotype. It represents white supremacy, the belief that Black people are inferior to whites. White Americans have a responsibility to educate themselves about the reality of Blackness. To learn about Blackness is to learn about Black history and culture, and ultimately celebrate and embrace Black humanity. In this way, Black and white people will come together as equals and humans.
Dyson analyses the impact of the n-word on the Black mind. Racism has led Black people to define themselves through the n-word stereotype. Dyson illustrates that colorism, the valuing of lighter skin tone in different groups as well as within the African American community, has distorted the inner selves of Black people and sustains the idea of a false and fictional Black privilege. Dyson stresses that racism generates self-hate and dehumanization. Black people often internalize bigotry and can “[imitate] the hate for Blackness” that white supremacy reinforces (151). Dyson acknowledges Black prejudices and notes the harmful impact of gender discrimination within the African American community. He connects sexism and racism, as both exclude and negate humanity. However, he stresses that racism is a white problem, as it can only be expressed by the dominant culture.
Dyson emphasizes Black people’s resistance to racial hatred. Their reappropriation of the n-word is an attempt to subvert its racist meaning and proclaim their humanity. Within the context of the Black community, the word acquires a different spelling and reflects intimacy. For Dyson, the n-word as used by African Americans signifies “self-love and a chosen identity,” a counterattack to self-hate (163). It also evokes the struggle to “define Black identity” and “Blackness” (165). Ultimately, the struggle is ongoing, as white society still deems Black people as “other.”
Dyson returns to Police Brutality as a Form of Institutional Racism. Criminality within the African American community is not the source of its troubles. Rather, systemic racism and the legacy of the “ghetto” keep marginalizing Black communities. Lack of resources and hopelessness lead Black people to desperate acts. At the same time, police officers who abuse their power and terrorize Black communities with unlawful killings are rarely indicted or punished. For Black people, the police represent the systemic racism that oppresses Black people more than public service.
Dyson provides statistics to galvanize white Americans and call attention to the gun violence that permeates American society. As he writes: “White folk commit the bulk of the crimes in our nation” (148). Black criminality is used to justify whiteness and sustain the narrative that Black people “produce the seeds of their own destruction” (149). A lack of resources marginalizes Black communities and generates criminality, a fact which remains obscured.
Police violence shows how the system has failed to recognize African Americans as full human beings. Dyson notes that police brutality predominantly manifests against Black men. The Black male is viewed as a “ferocious subversion” that threatens white masculinity (173). Thus, Black manhood has to be oppressed and criminalized. The police exert power over Black lives and continue the legacy of racial terror. White people do not realize the complex problem of police brutality. As the police represent “credibility” along with political legitimacy, white people fail to make sense of the violence against Black people. Dyson reiterates the connection of police brutality to institutional racism, as police violence is the result of racist stereotypes and social practices.
Ultimately, the idea of restoring the relationship between the police and the Black community is illusory. The legal system remains discriminatory against Black people.
White Americans fail to acknowledge police brutality, as that would signify their own culpability in racial terror. White indifference is also responsible for the fact that police officers are rarely held accountable for their acts of violence. Despite evidence that police abuse their power against African Americans, white Americans seem oblivious to the discriminatory policies of the justice system. Ultimately, white Americans must confront the legacy of America’s racial terror toward African Americans and consider their own position within that history. Institutional racism persists and white America’s attention is necessary in the struggle for racial equality.
