The Fire This Time

Kevin Young’s fragmentary essay begins with a quote from the movie The Jerk, starring Steve Martin. In the film, Martin’s character, a white man, claims he “was born a poor black child…” (101), a comic statement that links blackness with misfortune. This white conception recalls Rachel Dolezal, the white woman who claimed to be black and was publicly outed in 2015. 

White people have historically used blackface as a costume, which suggests they see black skin as an aberration of white skin. Young discusses his upcoming book, which explores con artists of various kinds. He wonders if Dolezal fits with his book’s theme or not. He lists joke titles that certain Twitter users suggested for Dolezal’s memoir. A black person’s skin is an inevitable element of their identity, one that attracts prejudice.

All black people diverge from common conceptions of blackness; furthermore, unity among black people surpasses “stereotypical qualities that may be reproducible, imitable, even marketable” (103). Americans passing for a race other than their own began with Thomas Jefferson. 

Young wryly notes that one does not elect to be black, nor is one hired. He jokes, “It’s more like a long internship with a chance of advancement” (104).