NOW MORE THAN EVER
MORGAN PARKER
This is a phrase used by Whites to express their surprise and disapproval of social or political conditions which, to the Negro, are devastatingly usual.
Often accompanied by an unsolicited touch on the forearm or shoulder, this expression is a favorite amongst the most politically liberal but socially comfortable of Whites. Its origins and implications are necessarily vague and undefined. In other words, the source moment of separation between “now” and “ever” must never be specified. In some cases it is also accompanied by a solicitation for unpaid labor from the Negro, often in the form of time, art, or an intimate and lengthy explanation of the Negro’s life experiences, likely not dissimilar to a narrative the Negro has relayed before to dead ears. Otherwise, it is expected to be met with a solemn nod of the head and absolution from the circumstances occurring “now,” as ever, but suddenly and inexplicably “more” than ever, as all Good Whites are convinced they deserve. When a time or era achieves “more than ever” status, many Negroes will assume duties kindred to those of priesthood, e.g., receiving confessions, distributing mercy, et cetera. Though, as noted above, the precise connotation of this phrase is quite obscured in its usage, it seems to be uttered in moments of “Aha!” or, more bluntly, “I straight up did not believe you before,” wherein before = “ever.” (See also: Negro Lexicon entries #42 & #43: “same shit, different day” and “samo samo.”) Subtexts, then, underscoring this phrase are quite sinister in nature, varying from “Your usefulness, Negro, is married to your misfortune,” and “Time is linear,” the implications of which are that 1) value is time sensitive, 2) conditions of despair are temporary, and 3) anything at all can be new, belonging exclusively to “now,” and untethered to “ever,” (i.e., past, future). These understandings of time versus import are likely due to the fact that spurs to action and empathy for the White are often directly correlated to any present dangers facing their individual freedoms, or even simply when one “feels like it.” (See also: Case Study #5: “Empathy.”) This reveals in Whites a compulsion to reformation based upon desire, excitement, guilt, or otherwise self-indulgent emotions, whereas it would appear that the Negro must live the life of the Negro, ever, now, and ever notwithstanding.
Notes on the text.
The draft that follows was written in December 2016 at Poets House, downtown Manhattan. It was emailed to a small circle of artists along with the message: “I feel all of my White friends disappearing.” The following draft is from an uncorrected proof of the author’s collection, Magical Negro (2019), and is the product of several revisions, including a “more telegraphic” version manufactured by the (White) editors of The Paris Review before publication in the Winter 2017 issue.
There is no final draft to this text.
Performance Score.
The text is interpreted by you and the moment. Sometimes you make a joke before you begin reading. You almost always inhale deeply. Deliver as matter of fact. Delay, continue, pace, rest, continue, play, scream, collapse, delay, continue, continue ad infinitum. Anything may be a prop. Sometimes you storm out of the room. On the first floor of MoMA, you can walk through the glass doors and smoke a cigarette across from the pub on Fifty-Fourth Street.
“Now More Than Ever”
This is a phrase used by Whites to express their surprise and disapproval of social or political conditions which, to the Negro, are devastatingly usual. Often accompanied by an unsolicited touch on the forearm or shoulder, this expression is a favorite amongst the most politically liberal but socially comfortable of Whites. Its origins and implications are necessarily vague and undefined. In other words, the source moment of separation between “now” and “ever” must never be specified. In some cases it is also accompanied by a solicitation for unpaid labor from the Negro, often in the form of time, art, or an intimate and lengthy explanation of the Negro’s life experiences, likely not dissimilar to a narrative the Negro has relayed before to dead ears. Otherwise, in response to the circumstances occurring “now,” as ever, but suddenly and inexplicably “more” than ever, this is an utterance to be met with a solemn nod of the head and—eventually and most importantly—absolution, which all Good Whites are convinced they deserve. When a time or era achieves “more than ever” status, many Negroes will assume duties kindred to those of priesthood, e.g., receiving confessions, distributing mercy, et cetera. Though, as noted above, the precise connotation of this phrase is quite obscured in its usage, it seems to be uttered in moments of “Aha!” or, more bluntly, “I straight up did not believe you before,” wherein before = “ever.” (See also: Negro Lexicon entries #42 & #43: “same shit, different day” and “samo samo.”) Subtexts, then, underscoring this phrase are quite sinister in nature, varying from “Your usefulness, Negro, is married to your misfortune,” and “Time is linear,” the implications of which are that 1) value is time sensitive, 2) conditions of despair are temporary, and 3) anything at all can be new, belonging exclusively to “now,” and untethered to “ever,” (i.e., past, future, world history). These understandings of time versus import are likely due to the fact that spurs to action and empathy for the White are often directly correlated to any present dangers facing their individual freedoms, or even simply when one “feels like it.” (See also: Case Study #5: “Empathy.”) This reveals in Whites a compulsion to reformation based upon desire, excitement, guilt, or otherwise self-indulgent emotions, whereas it would appear that the Negro must live the life of the Negro, ever, now, and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever [. . .] and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever [. . .] and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever (con’t.)
PARKER