Why isn't Foy able to consider the plight of other non-white populations? Will it ever be possible for race to not matter in America?

In the closing chapter, appropriately titled "Closure," as Foy and the narrator debate whether the U.S. finally paid off its debts when "the black dude was inaugurated," why isn't Foy able to consider the plight of other non-white populations? Will it ever be possible for race to not matter in America?

I think that race will always matter, just as gender will always matter, not just in America but in many other countries as well.

I recently read Jodi picoult's latest book. Small Great Things is about racism in America and she deals with the kind of racism that is more about expectations and assumptions than the kind of outright bigotry we associate with racism. I think we may be decades away from eliminating that kind of racism

To the extent our security is threatened by the existence of "the other" (anyone who is different from us) we will always deal with some form of fear that is like racism. The target may change. On the black/white dimension, the fear that requires us to define "the other' as an inferior has lessened in some ways, but it is still there. But we experience similar reactions in other dimensions of our lives - gender bias, sexual identity issues, xenophobia. Foy is reacting in the dimension with which he is most familiar. Because of his experience, those other folks just don't matter to him yet.

Unfortunately, I think that it is human nature to always have someone to be "better than." It is much easier to be better than others that you can easily identify...be it race, or sex.

Race will always matter in America, especially for black people and white people. There is an uncomfortable shared history Americans are still trying to work through and the guilt and pain associated with it are ever present.

It sure would be nice if "get rid of racism" was high up on evolution's to do list. It seems as if it's about time.

I agree with sweeney that it is human nature to always have someone to be "better than." My hope is that we will move away from a binary comparison and see that we are all just different shades of humans.

I agree with the previous comments and I also think that Foy has made a career of being an angry black man and doesn't really care about the plight of other groups.

I agree with all of the former statements. It seems to be an inate condition to have some one less than ourselves. It seems to be true everywhere and even in animal populations. It must somehow be hard wired as a means of survival. Very sad really because that energy pulling in one direction would benefit all

I have to agree with former statement as well. I think race will always be an issue, I felt like this book defended a way of life but not necessarily an understanding of racial issues from more than one perspective. The energy in this book is amazing, I had to read it in small portions so as not to loose what was happening.