Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism

The law professor heads out to Oregon to visit old friends but decides to spend an afternoon writing in a national park in the Willamette Valley. He has only had his laptop out for a few minutes when Erika Wechsler, a white woman dressed in camouflage and holding a rifle, fires a shot that lands near him. Very conscious that he is out in the woods with an armed white person dressed like a militia member (groups not always known for their racial tolerance), the professor is afraid.

Erika insists that they talk, and the professor is too afraid to deny her. She labels him a liberal because of his criticism of her carrying a gun. She believes that liberals, especially African American ones like the professor, need to arm themselves to be ready for what Erika is sure will come one day, a “Black holocaust”(116), the natural culmination of the current reactionary political environment. She believes in racial realism, which includes arming herself and other white people as well as preparing safe houses for African Americans for when society finally explodes.

The professor cannot believe what he is hearing. Erika points out that a militia like hers is important not only for African Americans but also for white people.