The Truth Hurts (Just Ask Macon)
Overall, Macon isn't a sympathetic character to me. While he does make good points that shouldn't be dismissed solely on the basis that he is a white activist, the entitlement, self centered, sexist, and "holier than thou" air he walks around with is a total turn off to me for him as a character.
My most pressing complaint against him is from the Day of Apology chapters. The way he handled the kid wearing blackface? Absolutely unacceptable. While I agree that blackface is wrong and Macon's intention of stopping that (probably) well-meant but still offensive appropriation was fine, his unnecessary use of violence against a 12 YEAR OLD is disgusting. Instead of explaining why the boy's actions were bad and correcting his actions, Macon flat out punches the boy in the face, ignoring the fact that he probably had no idea how offensive his actions were because he's literally a KID. It's this type of behavior that makes Macon seem more like a raging lunatic than a socially aware activist, and honestly, he can't even complain about it anymore. He's bringing it upon himself.
The things we hate about other people are often the things we hate about ourselves, and Macon is an excellent example of this. His first reaction to seeing people wearing traditional African garb/blackface is "What the f*ck are these people doing?" and he immediately looks down on them as racist, insane, or disrespectful individuals. Macon prides himself on not pretending to be black in that he is hyper aware of his race and never believes that he isn't white (It's important to note that he does appropriate black culture on the regular in what he says/wears/how he acts/etc. even though he doesn't resort to things like blackface). Still, seeing people like that allows Macon to see firsthand how white people may mess up in these situations and it sparks the idea that he may be exactly like them--offensive and oppressive.
It's interesting to compare this to how he handles Crazy Chris in an earlier chapter. Rather than lashing out at the presumably white man appropriating black vernacular, Macon notes that he "has potential." He praises him, saying that while appropriation or unintentional degradation of blacks should be avoided, Crazy Chris's energy and fire are good. On the other hand, he totally decks the boy with blackface, even though the boy basically did the same thing as Chris. Both offensively appropriated black culture in a public way in the name of helping African Americans. This helped me come to the conclusion that it's easier for Macon to excuse problematic behavior (that may or may not mirror his own behavior) when he can't actually see the people he's dealing with versus when he's smacked in the face with the reality that he may look no better than those other white people to everyone watching him.
My most pressing complaint against him is from the Day of Apology chapters. The way he handled the kid wearing blackface? Absolutely unacceptable. While I agree that blackface is wrong and Macon's intention of stopping that (probably) well-meant but still offensive appropriation was fine, his unnecessary use of violence against a 12 YEAR OLD is disgusting. Instead of explaining why the boy's actions were bad and correcting his actions, Macon flat out punches the boy in the face, ignoring the fact that he probably had no idea how offensive his actions were because he's literally a KID. It's this type of behavior that makes Macon seem more like a raging lunatic than a socially aware activist, and honestly, he can't even complain about it anymore. He's bringing it upon himself.
The things we hate about other people are often the things we hate about ourselves, and Macon is an excellent example of this. His first reaction to seeing people wearing traditional African garb/blackface is "What the f*ck are these people doing?" and he immediately looks down on them as racist, insane, or disrespectful individuals. Macon prides himself on not pretending to be black in that he is hyper aware of his race and never believes that he isn't white (It's important to note that he does appropriate black culture on the regular in what he says/wears/how he acts/etc. even though he doesn't resort to things like blackface). Still, seeing people like that allows Macon to see firsthand how white people may mess up in these situations and it sparks the idea that he may be exactly like them--offensive and oppressive.
Macon's actions definitely aren't great nor those a conventional hero would make. I also agree that Macon does have good intentions; he's advocating for African Americans. On the other hand, he goes about it in a bad way. I also agree with your point that Macon is projecting his insecurities on others. In fact, he even hopes that African Americans don't see him in that way.
ReplyDeleteI think your point about Macon points to a larger discussion about Macon's leadership skills. Compared to other heroic characters we have read this semester, Macon is certainly on the bottom of the list. He has an inability to plan ahead and communicate. His friends do advise him to think over his plan and vision, but he just brushes them off. Because of that, he has no one idea what to say during those interviews and as a result, he is unable to communicate his vision to his followers. Then his followers get the wrong idea, show up to the day of Apology, and gets sucker punched in the face.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about comparing Crazy Chris to the white people on apology day. He's basically doing the same thing as them, but Macon has completely different reaction to him. Maybe this is emblematic of his change in perspective over time?
ReplyDeleteNice post. I think what Macon is missing is recognition of himself as part of the problem, like truly. He says that he understands, but when he looks in his true "heart-of-hearts" he refuses to acknowledge his own racism, which is probably why it's hard for him to not punch that kid in the face - because he sees himself in him and can't handle it. This novel is really complex and I think I need to read it again to fully grasp what it means, but I think you're certainly right that Macon's reactions toward other white people give us a clear window into his soul and show us that he's still got a LOT to figure out.
ReplyDeleteI see Macon punching the kid in blackface less as a conscious or strategic "use" of violence (although he did admit earlier that if some people get beat up in their efforts to apologize, that would be fine with him) and more of a reflexive reaction to seeing a caricature of himself in the mirror--Frankenstein recoiling from the monster he's spawned. If Crazy Chris had showed up outside the dorm on the morning of Apology, Macon might have reacted in a similar way. On the radio call-in show, he's on his heels after the unexpected call from the civil-rights activist, and maybe Macon is in more of an open-minded mode at the moment. Elsewhere in the novel he's extremely critical of other white aficionados of hip-hop culture, and we suspect he'd forcefully reject the "backpack rap" crew we see talking about him so approvingly on the Day of Apology. It's easy to imagine Crazy Chris fitting right in with that crew.
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