Who is Macon Detornay?

   As we read more and more of Angry Black White Boy by Adam Mansbach, I find myself more and more confused about Macon's nature. In the beginning, I was unsympathetic to him--I couldn't understand him because I didn't know his background. What attracted Macon to black culture? Why is he so invested in it? And why, did this Jewish white boy get so offended when his taxi customers talked flippantly about a black woman? When I first started the book, it sounded like Macon was just trying to be somebody special and boost his own ego by being the only white boy willing to go to such lengths for the black community. I didn't see him as a hero.

However, as the book progresses, Macon's personality keeps unfolding. I find myself confused and exasperated with him. For example, when Macon argues with the Black Student Union and slams them for not doing enough, I found myself seriously disliking him. He says he "was on the front lines, way the fuck up in the mix, and they were hibernating in their dorm rooms. Holding meetings. Please." The disdain in his voice for the people who are actually affected every day of their lives by racism and oppression made me think of Macon as an idiot. A pretender who was trying to be real. Perhaps his argument with the African American professor of rap may be more legitimate--I think students should be allowed to raise counterarguments--but here, Macon was belittling everybody else and purporting his own opinions. 

Yet, there is this sense that Macon knows what he's talking about. He says over and over again that he isn't like other white boys who listen to rap--they do it because it's fashionable, he does it because he actually cares about what rap is saying. In the argument with the professor, Macon is depicted as a hero--the first person to question the legitimacy of the professor's statements. The risks that Macon goes to prove himself should also be mentioned: he starts robbing white people, lands in jail for a day, and gets maced. Of course, one could argue that Macon was only in jail for a short period of time and that he might not have robbed whites solely for the sake of the black community...

I was surprised by the skill with which Macon handled many of his interviews--excluding the Rise and Shine New York show. He was always one step ahead of the interviewer and easily countered their statements. Many of the things he mentioned were valid--everyday racism, micro aggression, white privilege--yet it still made me slightly uncomfortable because Macon takes such a radical stance on such a sensitive topic as a white person. 

Angry Black White Boy definitely has me intrigued. I still don't know how to feel about Macon--while he says some things that resonate with me, the way he carries it out is troubling. For example, when Macon starts grilling the host of the Rise and Shine New York show and uses the n-word repeatedly, even Andre felt uncomfortable. I predict that things will get even more uncomfortable  and strange with the creation of Day of Apology.