Coalhouse Walker's story

E.L. Doctorow certainly doesn’t shy away from talking about race in early 20th century America. The Jim Crow laws were still enforced during this era, and blacks around the country, whether in the North or the South, were victimized. Many authors, or at least the ones I have read so far (I’m sure there are many authors out there that shed their own light on blacks during this era), have always sympathized the blacks for the discrimination they have had to endure while portraying white Americans, especially Southerners, as the “evil-doers”. Doctorow strays from the  norm and portrays blacks in another light through the story of Coalhouse Walker.

One of the things that makes Coalhouse Walker so unique is his  image. He portrays one of wealth and of the upper class, as seen in how polite he is to everyone, the big city ragtime he plays as a pianist, and the Model T car he owns. While the way everyone treats Coalhouse is different, everyone was certainly shocked by how he looked. Reading this was not too much of a surprise for me. Again, with the Jim Crow laws, it wasn’t too much of a surprise that such stereotypes of blacks (poor, unkempt, etc.) were prevalent and used to judge all blacks.

The way all the various characters treat Coalhouse was also interesting to read about. Everyone is shocked upon first seeing Coalhouse, but it’s how they see Coalhouse after that initial shock that is interesting to note. For example, while Mother acts rather courteously towards Coalhouse and acts almost like a matchmaker for Coalhouse and Sarah, Father still holds onto some of that old-school racism. Sometimes, he even acts unintentionally racist as seen when he asks Coalhouse to play some “coon songs” when he visits Sarah at Mother and Father’s home. Other times, he feels insecure and even in awe and jealousy of Coalhouse’s wealth. Based on how Mother and Father are portrayed, to me, it shows that the Progressive movement has taken its effect on some people, but the old ideas of racism and other forms of discrimination have not yet been, nor will ever be, fully eliminated.

As we all know, Coalhouse, as great a man as he is, takes a turn for the worse. He soon becomes a rather vicious domestic terrorist and makes almost everyone in the city fear him because of a vandalized car and other forms of harrassment by Willy Conklin and his firefighters. As surprising as Coalhouse’s tragedy is, he represents how many blacks felt during the early 1900s. Race riots, such as the Springfield race riots of 1908 and the Atlanta Race riots,
were prevalent throughout the nation, and often the issues were over competition for jobs and civil rights for blacks. Blacks were obviously very angry during this time and the best way to express such anger was through the physical acts of violence. Coalhouse was no exception to this. The anger and emotions he felt over his Model T and Sarah’s death motivated him to go so far as to barricade himself in the Pierpont Morgan Library.

I know there is so much more to talk about, but this blog has to end somewhere. I remember Mr. Mitchell posed a question about whether we should admire the pride that has made Coalhouse so great, yet has driven him to become this domestic terrorist. Even if I don’t have a clear cut answer (because there is so much to consider in the character of Coalhouse), I will say this. Racism is something deeply inherent, and even if people like Father and Mother are around to represent the Progressive movement, racism certainly will never go away, at least not for a long time. One thing is for sure. Emotions and anger run high amongst those who are victimized, leading up to acts of violence. Coalhouse was just another one of those victims of this systematic racism. Was he right to have committed such crimes? That I leave up to the reader.