What are two things that everyone is talking about right now, but not together? Well obviously the first answer is Coalhouse. If you aren't talking about him for at least an hour a day, you're not truly living. The other thing everyone's talking about has been discussed for a while, and unlike the legend of Coalhouse, will probably go away for a couple years after November. Of course I'm talking about the race for the president. Now, putting everything about these 2016 candidates aside, I want to ask you this question: Would Coalhouse Walker be a good president? Don't ask how I came up with this. I really don't know I just started writing.+
The answer's not actually that simple. Say that somehow 20th century Americans overlooked all racism for a day and voted for Coalhouse. What would he really do in the White House? Would his reign be peaceful or would he go to war? Would he become corrupt? Well there's one thing I know for sure about him: He will not back down from his beliefs, and at this time, perhaps that's a good thing. I don't know exactly what he'd do with the economy, but he's a resourceful man. He could probably come up with something. There's the whole thing with the terrorism, but even in that he was fighting for his principles and trying to keep his pride and dignity. The extent to which he took in fighting for his pride definitely went too far, but it does show his willingness to do whatever he can to stick up to his morals. Even earlier in the novel he showed his persistence when he was trying to court Sarah. He kept going until eventually she agreed to see him. This could show that were he in office, he won't stop until the job he wants to get done gets done. His foreign relations might get a little hostile, but hey, America.
Overall, I think that despite his craziness towards the end of his life presumably triggered by Sarah's death, CW has many qualities that it would take to be the president of the United States. He is very persistent and holds strong morals that he won't back down from. Though there would be some drawbacks, and he's definitely not the perfect candidate, I don't think he would have ruined the country. In some ways, he probably could've helped it. And these days, that's all it seems to take.
#CoalhouseintheHouse
You've made good points about Coalhouse's persistence and strong moral compass, but I'm hesitant about letting this guy into office given the latest reading assignment. Coalhouse is suicidal. I guess no one can be completely sure about that, since it's Father who makes the observation, and we all know how Father slips into these racist modes of thinking -- but still, Coalhouse is completely ready to die and even lets up a little bit (truly the biggest shock) on his demands. And it's over a girl. He's tired and who's to say that something similar wouldn't happen if Coalhouse were the actual president of the US? What if, in some alternate universe, having pissed off someone for being too unrelenting in diplomacy or something, someone assassinated Coalhouse's fiancee? Would it really be safe for the US to be living under someone so volatile in his reactions? I'm leaning more towards no on that.
ReplyDeleteYou don't specifically mention it in this post, but of course Coalhouse *has* declared himself "President of the Provisional American Government"--the first solid indication that his "rebellion" isn't just personal but political in its significance.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sarah that I don't know if he has the kind of temperament we look for in a leader--although, the way he comports himself in a position of leadership (soft-spoken, self-assured, rational, cool) might argue against his "impulsiveness." In any case, "Coalhouse in the House" is a sweet slogan.
I am not sure whether or not Coalhouse has the sort of long-term vision that would be requisite for leading America. We never really get an indication that he is doing all this stuff for racial justice. It seemed like it was an isolated incident, rather than something that Coalhouse would have sought out and done to make a point.
ReplyDeleteI think the slogan you used is pretty creative and that's what got me to read the post. However I personally side with Katie and Sarah. I'm not sure if I agree with you about Coalhouse for president. The president of the United States can't afford to get the country involved in every single foreign engagement. If Coalhouse is acting so violently and defensively over the loss of his wife, his car, or for racial injustice (or whatever his reason may be) these types of things wouldn't compare to the types of terrible atrocities he would see in office. The president has to have a certain degree of self restraint in how he choses to respond to various acts of violence and based on Coalhouse's actions alone it doesn't seem like he has it.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to have to side against #CoalhouseintheHouse. Given how he reacted to a smallish situation, I can only imagine how he would deal with problems in office. While he does have a number of positive qualities, I feel as if the possible cons outweigh the pros.
ReplyDeleteCoalhouse's personality seems cool and collected in times of direct confrontation with people, but then again he might have overstepped a little bit with all the arson and murder in the end. I feel like he has good and bad qualities, but all the violence that seems to come out of nowhere is a little scary.
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