It's Black Thing, But You Might Understand Anyway

Over and over again we all hear the declaration that nobody can "understand" anybody else. Non-blacks "can't understand what it's like to be black," is the most famous example. Nearly always these declarations are interjected illogically into discussions that have nothing to do with one type of person "understanding what it's like" to "be" another type of person. The most common example for me is in my advancing years as I've come to believe that anti-black racism in the US has essentially been eliminated as a significant factor confronting the vast majority of blacks in their quest for a successful life. This conclusion of mine has absolutely nothing to do with my ability to "understand what it's like to be black."

In any case, though, the very claim about one type of person lacking the capacity to "understand what it's like to be" another type of person may be dubious. The world of literature is full of examples where one type of person writes about other type of person, and the work gets accepted as absolutely authentic. Here's one example where a woman has written about a male prostitute. Another famous example is the gay author of "Sex in the City." Also: "The Sopranos," written by a non-mobster. Then of course there are all the Alexander Dumas books, written by a black man, wherein all the characters are white. And there's "Knock on Any Door," written by a black man (Willard Motley), and long condsidered the quintessential novel of Italian immigrants in big city America. Furthermore, no white immigrants in late 1800s Chicago questioned the ability to "understand" of Luch Parsons, a freed black slave from Texas. Well, actually she lied to everybody and told them that she wasn't black, but rather a "Mexican" immigrant. They either believed her, or did not. In any case, she was a top leader of the original US labor movement, which comprised nearly 100% European immigrants.