Throughout Coalhouse Walker's appearances in Doctorow's Ragtime, Father has shown mixed signals. Initially Father hates Coalhouse because of the nerve that this colored man shows (nerve in the sense that he is a respectable, car-owning black man). Eventually as Mother and the rest of the family get caught up in the courtship of Coalhouse to Sarah, Father begins to partake in the excitement. When the fire incident occurs Father bails Coalhouse out of jail. At this point I gained more respect for Father because he shows some moral fiber.
However, as soon as the homicidal destruction of the firehouse takes place, Father becomes disenchanted. It seemed like the other family members we under the courtship "spell" but saw the romance for its true beauty. Father on the other hand participated more because of the happiness that it brought Mother. Now that that Coalhouse has stricken back at the Firemen, Father's previous feelings indicating some respect have disappeared. During the courtship, father seemed to be much more progressive in his nature and behavior than before. The event of revenge pushes father several steps back as seen when he lashes out at mother for her "sentimentality." The point of Coalhouse's act may have been to show the white people not to disregard a black man's issues simply because of his race. The effect on father simply reaffirms his racist ideals. Father wonders if "his dislike for Coalhouse Walker, which had been instantaneous, was based not on the man's color but on his being engaged in an act of courtship..."
For this reason, I found it particularly ironic when later in the story Father discusses himself as a "progressive" man saying that he thinks colored people could be equal to white people. In speaking of his forward ideas though, it shows how deeply ingrained racism has been in Fathers upbringing.
Father's "progressive" ideas on race are, under closer inspection, not all that progressive (but certainly characteristic of well-meaning white liberals of his time, as you note). It's the kind of paternalistic view that approves of "good Negroes" like Booker T. Washington, but disdains those who "don't know their place," or unreasonably insist on full citizenship or equality under the law (like Coalhouse): "there was no reason the Negro could not with proper guidance carry every burden of human achievement." The "proper guidance" phrase recalls all those who urge "patience" w/r/t issues of social justice--"in due time" and all that. In contrast, Younger Brother represents a more radical/revolutionary view, and uncompromising insistence on equal rights here and now, by any means necessary. There's a heavy dose of irony in Doctorow's summary of Father's self-congratulatory "progressivisim," in light of his actual reactions to Coalhouse's presence in his home. ("He didn't know he was a Negro" is another way of saying "he doesn't know his place.")
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