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.
Essay Topics
What key historical moments have been crucial to the racial struggle for equality? What does Dyson argue contributes to the persistence of racism today?
Why does Dyson structure the text as a sermon? What does this structure reveal about the author and text’s intentions? How does it impact the conveying of Dyson’s key themes and arguments?
According to the text, what is whiteness and how does it connect to racism and American identity? Why does Dyson separate whiteness from white humanity? Compare whiteness to the analysis of Blackness as illustrated by Dyson and identify their differences.
How do social and cultural narratives impact historical objectivity, according to Dyson?
Why do white Americans resist social change, and what is white grief according to the text? Consider how white fragility interacts with white privilege and their connection to whiteness. Use the text to support your answer.
What does the n-word represent within American society? What does the reappropriation of the word by African Americans signify?
The text emphasizes the pervasiveness of institutional racism. What forms of institutional racism does Dyson describe? Identify some of his main propositions that white people can adopt as practical steps against systemic discrimination.
Dyson describes police violence as the main cause for Black suffering historically and today. How does police brutality connect to institutional racism? Why does Dyson connect it to slavery?
What are the ways that white people can subvert racism and promote social change?
What does Dyson conclude about the possibility for social change and equality? Why is empathy important in overcoming racial hatred?
