There are only so many ways to slice and dice racism。 There is the pathetic legal trail， the shameful political trail， tragic straight history， personal memoirs and the legacy of civil rights efforts， to name the top few。 Michael Eric Dyson has taken pages from each of them and sewn them into “letters” to Blacks who have been murdered， mostly by whites， in Long Time Coming。Each chapter is addressed to a different victim: Elijah McLain， Breonna Taylor， Sandra Bland， Ahmaud Arbery， Hadiya Pendleto There are only so many ways to slice and dice racism。 There is the pathetic legal trail， the shameful political trail， tragic straight history， personal memoirs and the legacy of civil rights efforts， to name the top few。 Michael Eric Dyson has taken pages from each of them and sewn them into “letters” to Blacks who have been murdered， mostly by whites， in Long Time Coming。Each chapter is addressed to a different victim: Elijah McLain， Breonna Taylor， Sandra Bland， Ahmaud Arbery， Hadiya Pendleton， and Clementa Pinckney。 In the letter （Dear Elijah， etc。）， Dyson recaps the way they died to them， and launches into a discourse on some aspect of racism from slavery and Jim Crow lynchings to Black Lives Matter。 It’s a different approach， but the content is largely the same。 There is no new ground broken here， but the usual sick feeling over 400 years of abuse， physical， mental and sexual， is ever-present。Early on， in what might be the only really memorable development， Dyson explains the “law of white racist physics”: “A Black body and a white body cannot exist in the same space and same time without white permission。” “Black bodies that violate the rules of play automatically revert back to the conventions of slavery and the protocol of the plantation。” I had not seen that anywhere before。The hero of the story， if it can be called that， is the cell phone。 Dyson does not examine it very closely， but the cellphone has produced real time， definitive， unimpeachable， blow by blow documentation of the murders of ordinary Blacks， out in public。 The videos show what are more like executions than arrests。 They prove conclusively what Blacks have complained about since Reconstruction: police brutality on top of racial discrimination。 Cell phone videos have mobilized whites as nothing ever has before。 They have certainly provided much of the story Dyson presents in his book。I found three complaints buried in the letters。 Dyson bemoans the fact that Blacks are not a unified group。 They have the same range of opinions and attitudes as anyone else， and do not speak with one voice。 It is， of course， unreasonable to think it would ever be otherwise。 He also confronts the pickiness whereby whites’ awakening to the continuing discrimination of Blacks might have the effect of reducing the work to cure it， as in the attitude of once it’s out in the open， it is therefore being dealt with。 It is not， any more than #metoo has stopped sexual assaults or Congressional hearings have made Facebook a safe place， or listing Trump’s lies has stopped them。 Lastly， he does not approve of cancel culture， whereby social media simply avoids mention if not denying the existence of those who offend。 What with all the various opinions and attitudes， Dyson most reasonably calls for dealing with structural issues instead of canceling。 The final chapter/letter is addressed to the Reverend Clementa Pinckney， who was gunned down in his church by Dylan Roof， who hoped to somehow start a race war by doing so。 In it， Dyson tells of his own preaching and love of God。 He can’t understand how white churches condone all the hate of other races and cultures。 But he is full of hope。 He sees the possibility of civility and equality， and he clings to it enthusiastically。 It is a relief after a litany of crimes against humanity。David Wineberg 。。。more