Summary

“The Future of Blackness” is a plan for Black America put forth by Thurston and the panel members. The plan includes three major components: first, teaching a history of black people that has the honesty and complexity it deserves; second, distributing the struggle against oppression throughout society; and thirdly, opening up the idea of blackness to include all its members. Thurston describes how the negative psychological effects of making less money, having shorter life-spans and lower expectations contributes to a negative understanding of black history. Thurston prescribes an understanding of this country’s imperfections, the acceptance of the contribution that black Americans made, at intense cost, to the revolutionary birth of the United States, and the recognition that black Americans are Americans. While most of the panel agrees that a national discussion on race is unrealistic, the ideas must be distributed to the...