Word: rogerism
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...linchpin to all the subplots is Roger White II, 42, an impeccably dressed light-skinned black partner in the venerable Atlanta law firm of Wringer Fleasom & Tick. The nickname he picked up at Morehouse College, Roger Too White, reflected his disdain for all the campus talk about black separatism. But his old Morehouse friend and fraternity brother Wesley Dobbs Jordan is now the mayor of Atlanta. That connection explains why Roger is asked to represent Georgia Tech's All-American running back, Fareek ("the Cannon") Fannon...
...racial turmoil portrayed in Bonfire was up front and confrontational and stomping on the streets. Atlanta, as Wolfe portrays it, handles this problem a lot differently. Fareek is a fairly typical contemporary phenomenon, a loutish, sullen, spoiled athlete wearing diamond ear studs and, Roger observes, "a gold chain so chunky you could have used it to pull an Isuzu pickup out of a red clay ditch." Fareek is also a local Atlanta boy who climbed to fame from a poor black neighborhood. And he has now been accused, though not yet formally charged, of date rape by the daughter...
...race-conscious Atlanta, except the girl's furious father, wants to see this explosive matter go public. Mayor Jordan tells Roger, "This case has the potential to do more damage to this city than anything since the murder of Martin Luther King or the Rodney King riots, because it gets right down to the core of the white man's fear. Do you see what I'm saying?" Roger sees. But the rumors are out there already; a local Internet gossip sheet is adding new details almost daily. Quickly, the city's white business interests and black leadership huddle...
Right about here this roller coaster of a novel starts to get really complicated, especially ethically. The proposal Roger White, at Mayor Jordan's behest, brings to Charlie boils down to this: get acquainted with the Cannon, talk over your shared experiences as Georgia Tech football stars, and then appear at a press conference to say that Fareek is a fine young man, charged with no crime, and that everybody should just simmer down...
...earth would Charlie do that? Roger explains: "Once you've met with Fareek, you decide whether or not to go ahead with the press conference. If you say yes, then you let us know, and immediately all pressure from PlannersBanc will cease. If you then do your part at the press conference, it will cease for good, and the bank will restructure the loans on the most generous terms imaginable...