This is a common assumption, but I do not understand why people believe that when someone says that a white person (or not black person) would not be able to understand the anger/suffering of African-Americans that it translates into: "No one can understand pain/suffering/anger except African-Americans." That is not what is being said.

No one is claiming a monopoly on pain in this country. But there is a specific experience that is unique to African-Americans. How any intelligent or rational person can deny that is beyond me. There is a certain anger and resent that comes from being lynched, burned alive, beaten, having your family sold, being sold, stopped from eating in restaurants or shopping in stores, being forced to sit in the back of the bus, being turn down for a job, being given a higher interest rate on a loan, having laws that disporportionately put your race behind bars, being forced to segregate into the worst areas of the country, lacking opportunity to a decent education, etc all based on your skin color, that sorta leaves a bad taste in a person's mouth. It really is no wonder that so many people, most especially from Wright's generation, are so angry, bitter, and depressed. Why is it that people can not at least try to understand or empathize rather than condemn?