A Common Wind

Abstract

In E. L. Doctorow’s Ragtime, the central character, a black musiciannamed Coalhouse Walker, Jr., is driven to rebellion against white society by the actions of members of a volunteer fire brigade. Walker is a successful, self-respecting black man. He is driving his Model T. Ford past the fire station when he is stopped and his car is dismantled as part of a racist practical joke. The firemen are saying, in effect, you may be successful but in America you are still black.²