The Sellout

by Paul Beatty

whether I’m a direct descendant of Dred Scott, that colored conundrum who, as a slave living in a free state, was man enough for his wife and kids,

man enough to sue his master for his freedom, but not man enough for the Constitution, because in the eyes of the Court he was simply property:

That’s the problem with history, we like to think it’s a book—that we can turn the page and move the fuck on. But history isn’t the paper it’s printed on. It’s memory, and memory is time, emotions, and song. History is the things that stay with you.