Taking the Draw
There's a moment in the climactic scene of the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer, during the championship match where our hero, chess whiz kid Josh Waitzkin, realizes that his nemesis, the arrogant, scary, cutthroat chess whiz kid Jonathan Poe, has made a fatal mistake. Rather than going in for the kill, Josh extends his hand, offering Jonathan a draw. "You've lost," he tells Jonathan. "You just don't see it yet. Take the draw, and we'll share the championship."
Jonathan will have none of it. At first glance, it looks like he's winning the game. "Are you crazy?" he scoffs. "Look at the board."
"I have," Josh answers. "Take the draw."
Well, of course Jonathan refuses, and within a dozen or so moves, the sequence Josh saw plays out and he wins. The arrogant, scary, cutthroat chess whiz gets his comeuppance and skulks away. Josh gets his big trophy and also the satisfaction of knowing that he tried to find another way, that he didn't have to be arrogant and scary and cutthroat himself.
We American white folks like to see ourselves as Josh - but we're not. We're Jonathan. We're the ones coming in with the swagger and the attitude and the intimidating catch phrases. We're the ones who are way more invested in "winning" than we should be. And when we look at the board, we think we really are winning. We don't realize that the path to our defeat is lurking, hidden in the movement of the pieces.
At least, that's how it is if by "winning," you mean ensuring that this country seeks liberty and justice for all white people, and not for anyone else. If "Making America Great Again" means making America white again. Anyone who thinks that's what "winning" means needs to look at the board again, because that kind of "victory" is already a lost cause. To achieve that kind of "victory," we'd have to become so monstrous that we'd put Hitler, Stalin and Mao to shame. It is no "victory" at all. So let's not, okay?
On the other hand, taking the draw and sharing the championship - that is to say, this country - is no defeat. Not by a long shot. Personally, I think it's more interesting to have all kinds of different people around. Sure, that means I get taken outside my comfort zone sometimes, but that's just life. It's an opportunity to grow. And having all those other people around, with their different perspectives and their different abilities, means we have more chances to solve the problems that face us. We can all succeed together. What's so terrible about that?
I continue to feel like my primary calling in the Trumpocalypse, my most important response to Trump and all he stands for, lies in writing books that will help equip the coming generations to get out of the mess we're leaving them. But something else continues to weigh on me, another challenge that's much harder to figure out. How do we persuade all those American white folks - "my people," if you like - to come along? How do we show them that "taking the draw" is actually a better way to "win," that it's how we're really going to keep America great?
Many of them are frightened. Frightened by the loss of their perceived special status as white people. Frightened by decades of propaganda that paints people of color as lazy moochers. Frightened by the uncertainty of facing a new age and a new way of being a society.
Many of them are angry. Angry and feeling like control of their lives has been taken away. Angry at the politicians they feel have sold them out. Angry at people of color because that's who the propagandists have told them to be angry at.
And many of them are arrogant, selfish jerks. They are still our fellow human beings and our fellow citizens just the same, and so we can't abandon them or get rid of them. But what do we do? How do we join forces with a troll who wants nothing to do with us?
I wish I had the answers. Unfortunately, I don't. But I suspect this puzzle will stick with me for a long time to come. Maybe something will come to me in time.
Jonathan will have none of it. At first glance, it looks like he's winning the game. "Are you crazy?" he scoffs. "Look at the board."
"I have," Josh answers. "Take the draw."
Well, of course Jonathan refuses, and within a dozen or so moves, the sequence Josh saw plays out and he wins. The arrogant, scary, cutthroat chess whiz gets his comeuppance and skulks away. Josh gets his big trophy and also the satisfaction of knowing that he tried to find another way, that he didn't have to be arrogant and scary and cutthroat himself.
We American white folks like to see ourselves as Josh - but we're not. We're Jonathan. We're the ones coming in with the swagger and the attitude and the intimidating catch phrases. We're the ones who are way more invested in "winning" than we should be. And when we look at the board, we think we really are winning. We don't realize that the path to our defeat is lurking, hidden in the movement of the pieces.
At least, that's how it is if by "winning," you mean ensuring that this country seeks liberty and justice for all white people, and not for anyone else. If "Making America Great Again" means making America white again. Anyone who thinks that's what "winning" means needs to look at the board again, because that kind of "victory" is already a lost cause. To achieve that kind of "victory," we'd have to become so monstrous that we'd put Hitler, Stalin and Mao to shame. It is no "victory" at all. So let's not, okay?
On the other hand, taking the draw and sharing the championship - that is to say, this country - is no defeat. Not by a long shot. Personally, I think it's more interesting to have all kinds of different people around. Sure, that means I get taken outside my comfort zone sometimes, but that's just life. It's an opportunity to grow. And having all those other people around, with their different perspectives and their different abilities, means we have more chances to solve the problems that face us. We can all succeed together. What's so terrible about that?
I continue to feel like my primary calling in the Trumpocalypse, my most important response to Trump and all he stands for, lies in writing books that will help equip the coming generations to get out of the mess we're leaving them. But something else continues to weigh on me, another challenge that's much harder to figure out. How do we persuade all those American white folks - "my people," if you like - to come along? How do we show them that "taking the draw" is actually a better way to "win," that it's how we're really going to keep America great?
Many of them are frightened. Frightened by the loss of their perceived special status as white people. Frightened by decades of propaganda that paints people of color as lazy moochers. Frightened by the uncertainty of facing a new age and a new way of being a society.
Many of them are angry. Angry and feeling like control of their lives has been taken away. Angry at the politicians they feel have sold them out. Angry at people of color because that's who the propagandists have told them to be angry at.
And many of them are arrogant, selfish jerks. They are still our fellow human beings and our fellow citizens just the same, and so we can't abandon them or get rid of them. But what do we do? How do we join forces with a troll who wants nothing to do with us?
I wish I had the answers. Unfortunately, I don't. But I suspect this puzzle will stick with me for a long time to come. Maybe something will come to me in time.
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