No matter how enlightened or open-minded or colorblind I think I am or pretend to be, no matter how much I read, no matter how many lefty podcasts I listen to or first-person commentary I absorb, I can never fully comprehend what it is to be a person of color in the United States. But I hope that by reading a book like Ta-Nehisi Coates' searing, lyrical, and deeply personal Between the World and Me, I can at least get a little closer to some basic idea--though if you never have lived it and never can live it, all you're left with is an intellectual comprehension and a sense of empathy.
I urge anyone and everyone to read Coates' new book, particularly white people like me. It's truly an eye-opener.
