Scholars Visit Hill to Decide Most Influential Book on Race of the 20th Century

Hamilton Professors Shelley Haley, Tracy Sharpley-Whiting and Todd Franklin and the members of Sophomore Seminar "Race Matters" 215 welcomed Robert Bernasconi, professor of philosophy at the University of Memphis, Dwight McBride, associate professor of African American studies at Northwestern University, and Tiffany Patterson, associate professor of history at Binghamton University to the hill to debate the three major texts they have been studying this semester. Baldwin's Giovanni's Room, Fanon's  Wretched of the Earth, and Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, were debated, each speaker supporting a text and engaging in a debate with the other speakers and answering questions from the audience. After the final ballot, The Wretched of the Earth was voted the most influential book on race of the twentieth century. This event was sponsored by the Office of the Vice President, the Dean of Faculty, and the Department of Africana Studies.

Robert Bernasconi defended Fanon's Wretched of the Earth citing its historical significance and influence on world leaders. "Fanon changed the way we think about race and the way we live race," Bernasconi began, "he succeeded because he wrote to change the world." He went on to set the historical tone for time in which the book was published, 1961. Though written primarily with the Third World in mind, Fanon's book was quoted adamantly by the Black Panthers, and in capital cities across the world. "The world changed for fear of Fanon's vision," Bernsaconi continued, "the fact that you probably don't view race as biological is evidence of the way Fanon has affected you."

Tiffany Patterson spoke in defense of Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, and highlighted the unique quality of the novel's focus. Hurston "presented black people as living, breathing, human beings, not as metaphors," Patterson began. She continued to highlight the many concerns of the time Hurston was able to comment on without losing the focus of a life story. The historical significance, set in a black town, the focus on land ownership and lands representation of freedom, the ability of capitalism to destroy the unity and happiness of a family, the struggle between an individual and her community and the concept of love. Hurston mapped ethnic diversity before it was a recognized issue and, as Patterson phrased it, "raised questions about dark coloring in the African American community."

Dwight McBride supported Baldwin's Giovanni's Room, claiming it reached a much broader audience and citing the significance of discussing race issues from the view of whiteness. McBride suggests that Baldwin shows "if we are thinking in terms of gender, sexuality or class, then we are already thinking in terms of race." Baldwin's main character, a white man questioning his sexuality, is better able to find himself, and gains a new view of his fellow Americans while traveling in Paris. Baldwin, McBride concludes, "makes us think about what it is to be human," and the characters whiteness allows Baldwin to present a character diverse in many aspects, with no obsessive focus on a single aspect of his character.