Them CRR: Question One Whites are “trapped in a history which they do not understand” because they cannot fully understand it without personally experiencing the hardships of slavery and or its enduring aftermath. Thus, they cannot be “released from it” because they never (and will never) understood the detrimental limitations of inequality and racism, even if in their hearts they sympathize (not empathize) with blacks. In Nathan McCall’s novel, Them, a white couple, Sean and Sandy, who were believed to be “firmly grounded in their social stands” lost touch with their “firm” beliefs when they moved to the Old Fourth Ward in Atlanta, Georgia. After months of not being accepted by their black neighbors and being “attacked” Sean admitted that he “had given no real thought to the issues [his wife sandy] talked about.” (McCall, 2007, p. 215). His vision of equality consisted of “maybe tutor[ing] …show more content…
(McCall, 2007, p. 216). His honest opinion about blacks were that they were dangerous “thugs” and