The All-American Skin Game, or, the Decoy of Race

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The All-American Skin Game, or, the Decoy of Race (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)

That the Constitution of the United States is a “blues document” is, one suspects, a point not commonly made in civics classrooms across America. It is, furthermore, an observation likely to please neither those white racists hip enough to recognize and honest enough to acknowledge the black origin of the blues nor those black nationalists determined to locate the Constitution among the instruments of white oppression. Yet making points not commonly made and giving offense across racial lines, especially to those resolved to define themselves in racial terms, are precisely the kinds...

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