Home Cubed

In Barack Obama's book, "Dreams of my Father", I found the passage where the family is discussing 'Home squared' to be interesting. The children in Nairobi referred to the family's house on its ancestral land this way because though it was not their full time residence, it was considered to be where the family 'was from' if asked. At this point, Barack's relatives told him it was his 'Home cubed'. This insinuated another degree, not of separation from Kenya, but another circuit line run in parallel. If the relatives in Nairobi have two homes, the city they have gone to for work and their ancestral home, he has three. This terminology is interesting since it does not insinuate that the family home in Africa is less important or should mean any less to him than it does to his relatives in Africa. I think this is interesting given the classical Dubois-ian idea of double consciousness that is applied to Obama, or even extrapolated to 'triple consciousness'. For each place where a person must live, comes a new sense of consciousness. There is the way that Obama sees the world when he is with his white grandparents, the way the world runs when he is with his black friends, and now the way that his black Kenyan relatives see him and the way he can look at both his other worlds through their eyes. In every action he takes, he has the burden or blessing to be able to assess it as any of these people might.

Last Blog

I think it is interesting what people have been writing concerning our discussion comparing Obama and Birdie. One instance that stuck out to me while reading was in the being of "Dreams of my father." It was the part where Barack was playing at recess and he began chasing and playing with Coretta, the only other black child. When the other kids started making fun of them and saying that "Coretta's got a boyfriend!" Barack became really upset and started being mean to Coretta as well, pushing her and telling her to stay away from him. I think that part of Barack did this because he wanted to fit in with all the other (white) kids at school. It reminded me of Birdie when she was going to school and was one of the only white kids there. She desperately wanted to fit in with all the other black kids. I think for both Barack and Birdie their childhood experiences helped to shape who they were.
I also think that it is really interesting what people keep talking about in regards to gender and race in these two books. As megan pointed out, there definitely was a parallel between Barack and Birdie where they both were curious and question the relationship between their white mothers and black fathers. Much of this could have come from growing up in a time where this was not entirely common, and many people may have judged their families because of it.

The man who lived underground

Well it has finally come, the last class and blog of the semester. I would like to talk about one of Richard Wright’s stories, the man who lived underground. I found that story to be a very interesting one. It is really interesting to read about a man who ends up being accused of murder and has to spend time underground in complete darkness. While he is down there, he notices things and can see things better than the way other people can see things. He notices people singing in a church, a dead man, and even the shopkeeper. While being down there, he looses his ability to really see in white light. It is almost like he is transforming into a whole new person. A part that I found interesting was the part when he steals the money from the safe. He goes through a lot of effort in digging a tunnel and taking money out of the safe. The interesting thing was that it says that he did not want to spend any of that money. He only really stole it because it was exciting to him. Who steals money just because it is exciting? Overall, the story was very interesting to read and I enjoyed it a lot.

Connection Between Gender and Race?

I agree with Hannah. I found it interesting that we had the chance to compare "Dreams of My Father" and "Caucasia."I can't give a definite answer to whether or not gender correlate, but in my mind they do. Instinctually children I feel as though children have more of a bond with their mother. In Barack's and Birdie's case they well left in the care of their mother. It does not seem as though Barack or Birdie seem to question their mother's gender to their whiteness, but they do seem to question their mothers relationship to their fathers who are black. In other words, it as if they question the relationship between the two races in the first place, instead of the inherent actions as a parent of a particular gender. As Hannah posts, I think curiosity plays a role as well. I know that if I were denied the option to live with both of parents, I would be curious as to how living with the other one would be in comparison to the one I am currently living with. To build upon that, it seems more complex in Birdie's and Barack situation because of the added level of race. Since they reside with one parent who is of a certain race, they would most likely be curious as to how living with the other one would be. This reminds me of Birdie's day in the park with her dad and her father's encounter with the police who believe he is trying to rape her. From that example, one can see how perception of oneself with a particular parent plays a large role in the curiosity of child. In addition, one can see Barack's curiosity in his visit to Kenya and his notable name because of his father..

Last Blog Silent Racism

Since it is our last blog I thought I would talk about Silent racism just one more time. This week I was interested in what Jessica said in her blog what are minds do when we look at a picture of people from a different race. According to Trepanier, the brains in whites will send signals that demonstrate fear. I am not sure that I agree with this quote. I found this to be very interesting. I don’t think that is true at all. I like how Jessica brought up what her roommate said about the “nonracist” manner. I am not sure that I agree with some of the things that Trepanier said in her book. Especially when she explains how all whites are somewhat racist. That is not a very fair thing to say. I feel that some of her points are very good, and have really agreed with her ideas, but some of her other ideas seem to be counter active. I think that her book has made many of us much more race aware and hopefully we can all become less racist. Other than that I though Trepanier made some very good points. I really enjoyed reading her book and learned some valuable things about becoming more race aware.

It was interesting to read and to compare Caucasia to Dreams From My Father. Both Birdie Lee and Barack Obama are children of a black father and a white mother. They both struggle to establish a sense of identity, and they grow up chasing after two different races. I know we already discussed Caucasia in detail, but I wonder if it would have made a difference if Sandy had been black and Deck had been white. Was Birdie more determined to identify herself with her father’s race because he’s black or because he’s a male? Could there be some Oedipal longing here (I don’t think so) or is she trying to find a way to relate to her father? Obviously she is more comfortable with her mother, but she ends up denying her and going after her father. It’s just that after comparing this novel to Obama’s, I’m realizing that there is more at work here than just race. Perhaps gender, favoritism, or curiosity affects Birdie’s decision to go after her father. Maybe she does leave her mother because Birdie wants to be black, or maybe she just thinks her mom has gone crazy and can’t relate to her anymore.

Review for the Final!

You can now download the final review here.

Please let me know right away if you have any trouble accessing it.

Also, please note: There's a timeline of publication dates, historical context, etc in your Norton starting on p 2695.

Wrap up with Trepanier

Hey everyone,
So Monday we read the Epilogue of Trepanier’s “Silent Racism”. There was a passage in this reading that I didn’t really appreciate. Trepanier states that “The data in this study demonstrates that the term "nonracist" is a misnomer because all whites are somewhat racist (Trepanier, 130). I didn’t appreciate this statement because I do not feel that ONLY whites are racist. Also, I feel as though the term "nonracist" can be used to describe behavior. I believe that you can describe someone as having a “nonracist behavior”.
I was talking about this reading with my roommate and she presented a very interesting point. In her abnormal psychology class they discussed racism and how racism is evolving into a much more “nonracist” manner. The cases they studied explained that whites have an innate fear response to people of other races. However, over the years, this innate response has been corrected. For example, she explained that if a group of white people were showed pictures of a group of people from a different race, their immediate response is fear and anxiety. However, after the image is processed, signals in their brains send correcting signals that repress the feelings of fear. I thought this was very interesting and was evidence of human instincts attempting to diminish racism. What do you guys think about this? Do you believe this?

Imagine if the Tea Party Was Black

Hi, all. I just ran across this blog post and thought you might be interested.

On Thursday I watched a movie that everyone has probably seen before, Remember the Titans. There was one particular scene that struck my attention; it was about mothers protesting the schools for bringing white and black people together. The scene made me think of the short story we read for Monday, Recitati, by Toni Morrison. Both black and white women were protesting just like Twyla and Roberta.
I tried to picture what the two characters from the story would look like. As I began to look at the slogans on the posters from the movie, the people who were protesting against combining black and white students were the white mothers and the people who were protesting against the combination of school were black women. The people that were involved in the movie scene helped me imagine what Roberta and Twyla might look like. I still think Roberta is seen as a white not black, and Twyla is as a blacker person than white. I say this because of what I saw in the movie. Since Roberta was fighting against the schools coming together and Twyla was fighting for the change, the movie scene made me stick to my original conclusion.
I know Toni Morrison does not agree with my observations, but I find it hard to think otherwise about Twyla and Roberta. I do understand the overall message Morrison is getting at in her story, but from my previous observations and from what I have learned about the fight against segregation it is possible for their characters’ to be white or black.

Toni Morrison

Silent Racism: The End

I agree with a lot of the points that Trepagnier has made in her book ‘Silent Racism.’ However, I think Jenna has made an interesting point that some of Trepagnier’s ideas are counter-active. One idea Trepagnier fails to focus on is that of which in order to overcome racism, people must be seen as exactly that: people. The color of an individual’s skin should not be a focus point or a characteristic of a person that holds them back from the same opportunities that white people have. Although, I really think that it will be a long time before this happens. Racial profiling occurs constantly throughout police investigations and in job interviews.

I think the idea of making a racial continuum rather than ‘racist’ and ‘not racist’ is a very good idea. But it is only an idea. The entire book talked a lot about ideas and not enough about specific actions to be taken. I think that it would have a greater impact on readers if its focus was ‘what should we do’ vs. ‘what should we think about.’

I think this study would have been more interesting if several other actions were taken. First of all, it only dealt with women, so I think the same study should have been done, separately, with a group of men before this book was written. Secondly, I think it would be interesting to include many races in the study, and a larger number of individuals in total. This would have given varied responses and more believable assumptions could be made from these. I also think that blind-folding everyone would lead to interesting results. For example, the people in the study wouldn’t know if Trepagnier was white or black, nor would they know if anyone else around them was. It would be interesting to see how people’s words and phrases change when they cannot censor them based on the people’s skin color of who they are taking to.

Racism

I completely agree with a lot of what has been said about the final pages of Trepagnier's book, so I will not bore everyone by overly repeating much of it. I do believe that Trepagnier is not objectively analyzing her findings in her "study." After reading her book, I think that she went into this study with her ideas set and then fit her findings to what she believed. Yes, she does make a couple good points about how we should more aware of what could come across as racism in order to stomp out the sometimes "silent" forms of it. However, sometimes I think her ideas are counter-active and only further the problem. For example, as many have already noted, the idea of seeking out friendships with black and other ethnically diverse races. This seems backward to me as that instantly reverses what doing away with racism works toward. How does seeking to become friends with someone solely based on race overcome racism?

In order to truly do away with racism in this country people need to stop focusing on the color of one's skin--period. For example, as Morgan Freeman was quoted in saying, "I don`t want a Black History Month. Black history is American history." We need to stop separating people based on color. Yes, we all come from diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, religions and families. Yet that is what makes up America and in order to finally move forward this needs to be embraced and now dwelled upon.

Obama

After reading Obama's memoir/autobiography I feel as though one gets a glimpse of the internal and external that he faces not only as a youth, but also as an young adult in college. As a child Barack is sheltered from his identity through his short lived moved to Indonesia. His curiousty of the outside world is more evident through his observations of the nation and their traditions and customs, not to mention that as a young child one's capacity of self reflection is not full developed. In returning to Hawaii, the audience gets a better idea of his internal and external struggle with his identity. His first encounter occurs at his new prestigious school where the children tease him because of his skin tone. Unaware of his skin tone, Barack is deeply upset and has trouble with others perception of him because of his color. Although this incident at school is eventually remedied, Barack continues to have problems trying to identify and understand his place in the world. Another instance of his internal struggle happens when he and his friend Ray take two white boys on their basketball team to an all black party. One of the boys makes a comment to the effect that he knows how Barack feels being in a community of all whites because this boy was at a party with a majority of the people being black. Barack takes offense to this, and rightly so because the boy is insinuating that he understand Barack, but also because the comment was racial offensive. Lastly, Barack encounters a struggle between him and his college friend Marcus. While Barack is reading a book for one of his classes, Marcus takes offense to it because the book, "Heart of Darkness" follows a man's depiction of the Congo and its people the Kongolese. Barack seems embarrassed, but also fights for this book because he is trying to understand the white man's perspective. In other words, through reading this book, Barack is trying to make sense of his identity. I'm sure there are more experiences of identification to come, but here are just a few...

Silent Racism

Hey everyone! With Trepannier’s “Silent Racism” coming to an end this week, I’ve been thinking a lot about the different ideas she discussed throughout her book. In particular, I want to discuss Trepannier’s notion of identifying a certain race of people with events that occur that may be especially “important” to the people of that same race. This notion was discussed earlier in the reading yet I continued to think about it and last week at Gerald Early’s reading in Sykes, an example of this occurred.
Early had completed his readings and allowed for questions. I asked him a question relevant to his reading: How old were your daughters when you wrote the book? Another person in the audience asked him about his views on James Baldwin’s work. Then, an older gentleman raised his hand and asked Early the following question: “How do you feel about the Tiger Woods scandal?” Early laughed a little bit and through his smile said: “I don’t really know…” I think Early was just as surprised by this question as the rest of the audience. I then started thinking of Trepannier’s reading. Was this s form of Silent Racism? Had Early been white, would the older gentleman have asked the same question? Probably not. The older gentleman associated Early with the Tiger Woods incident because both men shared the same race. How do you guys feel about this? Is this Silent Racism??

Friendships

Reading Barbara Trepagnier’s section on making friends seems a little opposite of what she argues in her book. Making friends because of skin color is not true friendship. I think that trying to make your friends group more diverse is not bad at all, in fact I think she should be friends with all types of people; however making friends only to make your friends group is wrong. I don’t choose to make friends based on color, but instead on the actually person. Is the person a good person? Do they have good characteristics? That’s how I decide if I am going to be friends with someone. Not because most of my friends are white, and since I need to make my friends group more diverse. That defeats the purpose of a friendship. And also I don’t think that having a group of friends who the majority is the same race. I really like what Hannah said, about when she came to college, what she was looking for. I agree completely. I did not come to school here and say okay I have ten white friends so I need to even that out, and start looking for black people to become friends with. I just made friends with people as I bumped into them. Now After being here for two years I can say that I have black friends, white friends, and some Indian friends, but I don’t think any differently of them because some are black, some are white and some are Indian. Their all my friends, and I didn’t meet them by looking for people of certain races, we just became friends, without thinking about it. It just happened. That’s how friendships should be made.

"Bloodchild" and "Recitatif"

In “Recitatif” by Toni Morrison, and “Bloodchild” by Octivia Butler, both authors address issues of motherhood, parental roles, and racial ambiguity. Toni Morrison’s piece has been noted for her intentional removal of all clues to the racial identity of its characters, though race is a key issue. In “Bloodchild”, they do not directly allude to the physical traits of the characters very often as well; they are assigned gender but not much else. Only the man who almost dies being eaten alive by the host grubs is given a non-gender physical trait; he has brown skin according to the author, which is left further undefined. Only in the ending arguments about the host-egg laying system are more explicitly racist topics hinted at; a history of being oppressed and enslaved on their home world, and are they being treated better here? In Toni Morrison’s piece, her lack of gender identities is a persistent and intentional device- it is meant to force the reader to recognize what non-physical traits they have imbedded into racial stereotypes.

Both pieces also deal actively with the issues surrounding motherhood. In “Bloodchild”, the mother-creatures of the insectoide like race mate briefly with males, who only serve to father offspring; then they die and are not even part of the child rearing society. The mothers of this race are then forced to have their larvae grow inside the body of a host human. In “Recitatif”, both girls do not have active father figures; their mothers play the only parental role in their life. Strangely, like “Bloodchild”, the girls are raised by someone else, in the belly of the social services system- although there is not the symbolism of the girls taken and eating away at their host, but rather the host tainting them, and leaving them troubled and on a path to self-destruction like the older girls.

Toni Morrison -Recitatif

WOW! After Mondays class my mind could only think of the way Toni Morrison was able to confuse people with her descriptions of both girls in her well thought out passage. Through this I noticed more of how we, as people of different races, tend to use stereotypes to base our judgement of the other race. As we sat in class I would hear many people talk and analyze how the person in this story could not or could be this race based on simple descriptions that could basically describe anyone. I myself was truly shocked when finding out the race of the girl's because throughout the whole story I would base my assumption on Twyla and Roberta's race just off of little characteristics or just their names. I set my assumption, although it was the wrong way to go about it, on the names alone. I saw Twyla as more of a Black name rather than white. I guess growing up in a community with Black names being unique I jumped to the conclusion of that right away. However, I would notice others doing the same thing as they based their wrong desici decisions ons on Twyla being white simply because her mother told her that the other race did not wash their hair. I wonder how they felt when noticing that their assumption was wrong. I found this discussion one that I deeply liked throughout this whole semester. Just due to the fact that people would actually base their opinions on the other race more openly because of their confusing and longing to know which race both these girls were.

One thing That i was able to take away from this passage was we need to stop basing our judgement on people based on stereotypes alone. Obviously stereotypes and the way we categorize other races plays a big factor on our judgement of people. But we need to grow out of that phase and acknowledge people for who they are not what race or color our skin is.

Bloodchild

I thought Octavia Butler's "Bloodchild" was a really interesting piece. It had the weird sci-fi effect where you are constantly trying to figure out this new world. Parts of it were weird and disgusting, but I couldn't help be intrigued. At the same time it had themes that represent very normal circumstances. For example, the mother that does not want to let her son go because she wants to protect him. Also there is the politician, who works to protect those who can't protect themselves from society. All of these things make the story easy to relate to.
Then there is the symbolism pointing to slavery and tension between whites and blacks. The Terran people are safe only because they live on a preserve and allow themselves to be used by the Tlic. The relationship between the main character and T'Gatoi is very interesting because in one way it is painted in a very positive light. Then we see the potentially horrible consequences that wait for the main character. I wondered if this potential fate was supposed to be seen as punishment for betraying his race or if it was a necessary evil. This is similar to other readings we have done where the narrator has internal struggles about the same issue.

Barbara Trepagnier’s suggestions to seek African American friends based solely on the criterion of skin color seems to be counterproductive to what she argues throughout her book. She does encourage readers to not be color blind, but to be more aware of the things we think, say, and do in relation to race. But she also stresses the importance of not singling people out based on race. While I do think it’s important to appreciate the multi-cultural friendships that we have, I don’t think we should make friends simply because someone is of a different race. If someone came up to me and asked to be my friend because I’m white, I don’t think I would respond very positively. I think if we seek friendships based on similar interests and activities, we will naturally befriend people of different cultures. From there we can learn more about race and our awareness of others. In that regard, I do think it’s important to meet people of other cultures, but not simply with the incentive of skin color.

Also, I don’t think that having a group of friends all of the same race is automatically racist. For example, I come from a small, predominantly white area in NH, so naturally most of my friends from home are white. But when I came to college I wasn’t looking specifically to make other white friends—I was just looking to make friends. Nothing changed in my perceptions of different cultures between high school and college, but my opportunities did. Now that I have friends of races different than my own, I recognize their cultures and try to learn as much about them as I can. But I didn’t introduce myself because I saw a different skin color; I got to know them because we lived in the same dorm or we participate in the same activities.

Toni Morrison's Clues

As a followup to Jess' post about Toni Morrison's racial clues in Recitatif, I too have to agree that I tried to use the girls' names to identify them as either black or white. And I too found myself wondering if this was at all racist on my part. Personally, I thought Roberta was black and Twyla was white from their names. From Jess' experiment, it seems that opinions are split on this matter, however. Maybe this does suggest that racial assumptions are all based on point-of-view, and past experiences in one's life. Even using names or certain clues to stereotype races doesn't necessarily result in one consensus.

Another fact that I thought to myself was an indication of race and indicated that Twyla was actually the black girl, was that her mother 'danced all night.' I too wasn't sure if this was racist of myself to think that possibly the mother of the two girls who 'danced' as a means of making money most likely, was black. However, this assumption is based on past readings that depict black women, in this time period, as objects for mens' eyes and bodies to be pleasured by. I also thought that Twyla's mother could of been a 'dancer' as well, but being a 'well-respected white women', she might not have wanted people to know of her actual job or reason for leaving Twyla at an orphanage, so Twyla's assumption is that her mother is sick. I ask myself and others several questions on a regular basis regarding this issues with race. Referring back to Silent Racism, are these stereotypes that are engraved in our heads a form of racism? Is the abolishment of racism advancing if we still fear that what we say or think will be racist even if it isn't, or if it is simply restating facts from the past? Who determines what a racist comment or thought is?

Recitatif and Morrison's cues

Hey everyone!
After Monday’s discussion on Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif” I started thinking a lot more about the social and racial cues that may hint which character is black and which is white. I found it interesting to see which people were picked up on what clues. One clue I was hoping to discuss but we ran out of time was name selection. I find Morrison’s choice for the names of his characters very interesting: Twyla and Roberta. As soon as I started reading this text, I used the names as racial indicators. At first, I thought Twyla was the black girl and Roberta was the white girl and this assumption was solely based on their names. When I realized that I was making that assumption, I immediately thought of the Trepannier reading and was a little shocked. Was my assumption somewhat racist? I didn’t know. This worried me. Interestingly, I asked five of my friends to read both names and identify one as black and one as white. Surprisingly, three (males) responded that Roberta was black and Twyla was white whereas only two (males) responded that Twyla was black and Roberta was white. My question for everyone was whether or not the names Morrison chose for his characters sparked a response in any of you? Just by reading the names, what did you guys think? Do you think Morrison did this on purpose? If so, why?

Caucasia

In the book Caucasia, by author Danzy Senna, the struggles of two racially mixed children are portrayed within the first chapters. Young Birdie who resembles more of her white mother is put into a culture shock at an early age because of the era which she had no choice but to be brought up in. I found this an interesting topic to talk about while in class that day because as a Racially mixed child myself i could somewhat relate to the problems and challenges young Birdie along with her sister Cole are presented with during their young lives. I truly found Birdies issue more of an interesting topic because of her longing to pass as black even though her racial features would not allow her to do so at all. Senna describes Birdie trying to be so much like her sister but the fact that she was white like her mother made her stand out from all that her sister would do. Cole the older sister of Birdie also faced the same problem as she would try to pass for a race. Although, in Cole's case she could pass for the black race as she wanted to but at the same time should could never forget the race of her mother who was White.
One could see how much Cole resented having a white mother when Senna describes a trip to the supermarket , where Cole is seen to be a bit more distant than Birdie. This truly allowed me to see the troubles one may face as they are brought up with two separate races. My thoughts upon this whole situations would have to be one that questions how do you keep yourself from drifting towards one race more than the other and is that truly possible. As I have seen within this book, I can easily see a person abandoning one race for another. This is because the longing everyone has to fit in with the race that will accept them the most. This was even mentioned in the book as Birdies mother and father, Deck and Sandy, argue before their big break up. Sandy alolowed this to be visible as she says "Come off it, Deck. I mean, I guess the school makes sense with Cole. But Birdie? Look at her sometime, really look at her. Try to see beyond yourself and your Goddamn history books. She looks like a little Sicilian." I believed this arguement brought a valid point to the book because within these words, the idea of race being such an important factor in life was perpetuated. Race which is how people are categorized based on features plays the most important part in this book due to the searching for ones true identity in the pages. However, I am excited to see how much of an impact the confusion of identity within race plays off in the rest of this book.

"Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note"

I found the poem titled “Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note” by Amiri Baraka to be incredibly interesting. The title of the piece, in my mind was the most controversial when juxtaposed to the poem itself. The dense yet ambiguous theme of the poem makes the title feel somewhat ominous, irrelevant, and even threatening. In the first stanza, he discusses the monotony of everyday life, and how the thought of death sort of consumes him even when taking his dog for a walk. Moreover, he states that he has become accustomed to it: the monotony and thoughts of suicide, which alludes to his numbness to both life and death. In the proceeding stanza he mentions counting the stars, and also counting the holes they leave when they have not come to be counted. The stars perhaps represent his blessings or positive aspects of his life, while the holes represent the negative side of these blessings, and the potential for them to become rotten or decayed by the evils in the world, such as racism. The fact that he counts both the stars and their holes, then, is representative of his inability to fully celebrate the beauty in life due to his pessimistic attitude of the potential that the evils have to taint these things. These stanzas sharply contrast to the final stanza, in which he witnesses his daughter praying in her room by herself. Though he feels that there is no reason to live anymore, the naivety of his daughter’s actions make him question his own intentions of suicide. Though he never comes out and says it, the ambiguity of the final stanza really connects the poem to its title. The fact that the suicide note is twenty volumes, complete with a preface shows just how torn he is about leaving these “blessings” behind, and perhaps jealous of his daughters naivety, yet also weary of what this characteristic could bring for her future.

"Caucasia"

In Danny Senza’s “Caucasia”, Birdie wrestles with her identity crisis as a racially ambiguous girl caught between the world of her mother and the world of her father. She is coming of age in the era of the black power movement, and is conflicted between her black roots, and her more white appearance. In white culture, “one drop” of black blood will assign her a black social identity. When she is on the run with her mother, she is forced to pretend to be a half Jewish girl and assume this identity. She must distance herself from her black identity, and is forced to hide even her shock at the way white people discuss blacks in a white-only environment. In black culture, she is not ‘black enough’ to fit the black standard of beauty. Her sister is effortless in the way she assimiliates into black culture, but like the discomfort Birdie later experienced with white culture, she also is not truly at ease in black culture either. As a schoolgirl at a private black power school, she was teased for being too white; her straight hair and pale skin alienated her. I think that this is cryptically aligned with what her Aunt Dot says, talking to Birdie after her time in India. “Its funny. When you leave your home and wader really far, you always think ‘I want to go home.’… (and) from then on there’s always this yearning for some place that doesn’t exist.”. This is Birdie’s situation; she is split between worlds, yearning for some invisible place in between to call her own.

Silent Racism

After doing the readings for this week, I really would like to talk about the Silent Racism book. I would like to talk about it as a whole then really any specific spots. I really would like to say that I do not really enjoy reading this book or agree with what this woman is saying. I just do not understand her way of thinking on things. How can she interview one person and then based on what they said, call them racist and then assume that everyone else beliefs something on those lines. I really think that she needs to get more information about things before she can make a judgment. It is just really frustrating at times to sit there and read things that are outrages. She blatantly sits there and calls everyone racist and making judgments on everyone. I think that it would be interesting to have someone sit there and interview her and call her racist. Overall, I really do find it hard and frustrating to read this book at times and this woman’s thinking should be changed. It is a new era and she has to realize that not everyone she thinks is racist and one little remark that you make does not determine if your racist or not.

Caucasia

I really liked the discussion we had on Wednesday about the concept of "passing" in Caucasia. We are used to thinking of "passing" in terms of black people pretending to be white in order to improve their life situations. This is definitely what most of the book is about (Birdie pretending to be a white girl named Jesse). However, in class on Wednesday, a different point was brought up. It seems like every character in this book is "passing" as one thing or another. This seems to be happening even, or especially, when the character isn't aware of it.
At the beginning of the book Sandy is trying to fit in with the "movement", even though she doesn't really feel comfortable about it. Deck uses slang when he is around his black friends, but not around his family. Deck dates a black woman so he can feel more black. Cole and Birdie try to fit into a Black Power school. In the middle of the book, Birdie and Sandy try to fit in with the country people around them in New Hampshire. At the end of the book, Deck discusses his anger at black "academics", when he is clearly one of them (some of the things he complains about directly point to actions he did in the past). By the end, it seems that Birdie is the only one who refuses to "pass" anymore, but she still is lost and feels like she can't fit in anywhere.

The character formerly known as Sandy...

At the end of class we were asked to consider the problems associated with a particular character and how they interact with the world. I had a particular interest in the character formerly known as Sandy, but now is referred to as Shelia. In Sandy's life the most important things are her ideals. She is always expressing her thoughts about others to Birdie. One of the most obvious examples of this is when she expresses her thoughts on the difference between a conservative WASP and a liberal WASP, while considering where her landlord, the Marshes, fall. But I also think her ideals get her into trouble. Instead of thinking about how she wants to go about expressing her ideals, she acts upon emotion, which is evident her feelings towards all the places her and Birdie find themselves. The problem that she is actively trying to solve is concealing her identity to protect herself and Birdie. Paradoxically, At the same time, it seems as though she is trying to form a new, permanent identity to replace the old Sandy. This is seen through her weight loss and recklessness with her new boyfriend Jim. Moreover, I feel as though she is most comfortable with people being confident in her new identity. She feels least confident when she is forced to evaluate her decisions and action. The audience becomes aware of this while Birdie questions her mother's intentions of dating Jim, which she fervently ignores. All in all, I think Sandy wants to be loved, but she is unsure of her identity, which makes it difficult for her to be capable of wanting/being loved. Unless she is able to resolve her identity crisis, I'm not sure as to whether or not she can offer herself or Birdie anything meaningful.

I think Caucasia uses a lot of themes that we have been talking about, in modern life. So far all of the themes we have talked about have been about times that I feel we can't fully relate to because of the time period. But with Caucasia I have felt that I can relate to it a lot more. I think another reason why I have been able to relate to it so much is because it is in Boston and also with the fact that I am bi-racial just like Birdie and Cole. I can't completely relate because my parents didn't raise me the way they did, but on other aspects I can. For example, like Birdie and Cole, I went to a school that was mostly African American and Hispanic students in Roxbury, Mass. Although they were much younger than I was went to middle school, I still felt the same pressures of fitting in socially. I can totally see why Birdie tries so hard to "prove" that she is black. I remember when I first went to the school and saw that being white wasn't necessarily considered "cool" so I tried my hardest to play up the fact that I am half Hispanic. I also remember my mother and sister saying that they could hear the way I spoke, dressed, and looked change while I went to that school. Its really strange to think that I changed who I was so much to fit in, which is what Birdie did in each place she went. In a way Birdie passes when it's convenient for her to pass, but the problem with her passing ends up with her not knowing who she really is. I think passing in general causes the passer to lose who they are because by passing so much they think that that is who they truly are.

Caucasia by Danzy Senna

I think Caucasia has several themes, which have been present in past African American literature we have read in this class. For example, the theme of identity is explored in this novel from several characters’ points of view. It is shown that finding one identity is not only socially orientated, but also psychologically. To Birdie, she sees herself to be the same as her sister, Cole. However, others focus on their differences, and this all starts to confuse Birdie. When they first started attending an all-black school, the other students accepted Cole, but Birdie was not. Then, as Birdie tries to fit in at the all-black school, she feels as if she is only playing a role. ‘But I did feel different—more conscious of my body as a toy, and of the ways I could use it to disappear into the world around me.’ This is an important aspect of this novel and of the idea of passing. Unlike an all-black person, Birdie has the option of passing as black, or as white. She feels pressure to change from one to the other, depending on her situation and surroundings.

Early on, we witnessed just how close of a relationship Birdie and Cole have. Cole stood up for her younger sister. ‘Birdie isn’t white. She’s black. Just like me.’ This brings up another important theme of Caucasia, which is the bond between sisters. Birdie and Cole’s relationship demonstrates the true capability that sisters have to protect each other and comfort each other. Some reasons for their connection are how they spent so much time together, growing up in their attic. Another reason could be the hardships they experienced witnessing their parents fight, and living in such a hostile environment. I believe that when two people experience difficult times together, they naturally form a connection. These girls were also the only companions to the each other all through their childhood.

In Danzy Senna’s novel, Caucasia, the notion of racial identity is prevalent. It is especially apparent in the character of Birdie Lee. She seems to think of blackness as looking and acting like her father. Since her sister is more visibly similar to their father, Birdie doesn’t feel as connected to him. She notes that she inherited his asthma and his logical way of thinking, but since she doesn’t look like him, she doesn’t relate to him as well as Cole does.

Birdie’s idea of race is probably influenced by the reactions of people around her. For example, when she first arrives at Nkrumah, the other students harass her because she looks white. In order to fit in, she starts to “act” black and really study the other students’ mannerisms and appearances and compares them to her own. Then, once she has become Jesse Goldman and enters the public school in New Hampshire, she is influenced by the other students, and starts to “act” white in order to fit in. It seems that she can pass as white or black, and this makes her more susceptible to the forces around her. Since she can change her identity to fit her surroundings, her racial pride and identity are weak, and this affects her actions and thoughts throughout the book.

Amiri Baraka

So, this week we mention Amiri Baraka's in class. Last week my poetry class had to watch some of some of his performances on you tube. During the viewings I learned that he is a very well respected poet in both the black and the white community. I never would have pictured it, but he looks really old. In the past I have just heard his readings through itunes and never saw a picture of him. His overall performance was very active and entertaining from a voice that sounded in the mid thirties or forties. However, when I saw him on You Tube he was sixty or seventy. I watched his poetry titled, "Why is we American." I enjoyed it a lot because it Incorporated jazz and spoken poetry. When I looked up the poems, I read them completely different then he preformed them. His performance made me think about how important it is to watch an author read their poetry after reading it yourself. Because I saw Baraka's performances and have read a variety of his work, I am inspired to learn, write, and talk about poetry that is both well respected in the black and white communities.
F.Y.I I'm performing my poetry next week in the Sykes courtyard. If anyone is interesting in watching, I believe it will be at 5 or 6 pm. 4 other students will be performing. Come and join! Maybe you will be inspired by our poetry like others have inspired ours.

Silent Racism

I really liked what Trapagnier states on p. 71 in Silent Racism. She states that most sociologists believe that humans, especially Americans go through their days on autopilot, and that this is a result of the fact that people are in a routine, and enjoy this routine. I find this interesting because this is incredibly relatable to human behavior from a psychological perspective (my major is psychology). Humans, by nature love the monotony of routine because it allows for them to remain focused on things that are most important, while saving mental energy on things that could and should require little thought (i.e. getting up, showering, getting dressed, eating breakfast, commuting to work, etc.). Establishing a routine with monotonous duties of the day, then allows them to not have to consciously think about what they are doing. In addition, being on autopilot relieves humans of unwanted emotional stress that may inhibit their performance on various life activities. The number one emotion that humans subconsciously try to avoid is anxiety, which is an emotion that occurs on a wide spectrum of intensity throughout the day. Breaking a routine causes anxiety in humans, which is an emotion that is often thought as a negative one producing negative physiological side effects.
Though the breaking of routine is often avoided in order to avoid anxiety, Trepagnier believes that the breaking of routine, especially in regards to race relations is a really important factor in tackling silent racism. It is critical to feel a bit anxious about the topic in order to talk about it and get comfortable. Ideally, Trepagnier would like to see that discussing racism and race relations will become more of a routine in American society, hence allowing for more open discussion and less anxiety on the topic.

James Baldwin's "Going to Meet the Man"

I found James Baldwin's "Going to Meet the Man" both fascinating and disgusting. I have never understood the whole idea of turning torturing someone to death into a kind of picnicking social gathering. Yet, we repeatedly see this theme throughout history from the gladiators in the Roman Colosseum to the southern lynchings of African Americans in the United States. Baldwin's raw description of Jesse's childhood experience with the lynching of a black man provided insight into the strange make-up of human psychology. At first Jesse was frightened by the disgusting brutality of the crowd, but when he sees his father and mother enjoying themselves, he seems to push that aside and follow his parents example. It shows that, as others have pointed out, racism is not an inborn trait, it often results from one's childhood experiences and parental influences. Many times I think people try to overcome the uncomfortable feelings they may have when facing a situation such as a lynching by replacing the uncomfortable feelings with "enjoyment." Eventually one grows numb and develops the brutal traits they witness at these gatherings. In Jesse's case, the way he seems to "overcome" these feelings is by getting sexual enjoyment out of feeling more powerful over the black race. It is only when he thinks of all the times he has participated in oppressing and brutalizing the black race that he can become sexually aroused enough to have sex with his wife. Even then he has to pretend she is a vulnerable black woman that he is overpowering in order to get enjoyment out of it. I think that Baldwin's "Going to Meet the Man" does a good job at unveiling the raw elements of the human psyche that drive a society to become so corrupt and brutal.

Gerald Early's Reading in Sykes

Hey everyone! Today I want to talk to you guys about Gerald Early. I went to his reading last night and really enjoyed myself. He read from his novel “Daughters” and also, a segment from an essay he wrote while in Turkey. His reading from “Daughters” was my favorite of the two. The passage he read described an incident that happen to him and his family in a shopping mall; He was approached and interrogated by a police officer because he fit the description of a man that look “suspicious” and was “lurking” around the mall. Early was obviously very offended by this accusation because he knew that he was being stopped and questioned solely because he was a black man. As he read last night, you could sense his hurt and embarrassment. I especially enjoyed the scene he described with his daughters (10 and 12 years old at the time of the incident). In this scene he’s trying to explain to his oldest daughter why he was stopped. “It’s because I’m black Linette. They don’t like your daddy because he’s black. They think I’m an animal!” he said to his daughter. His daughter gets very upset by this and does not want to talk about it.

Also, I was especially moved by the last paragraph of his reading. In this last scene, Early and his daughter are walking and she apologizes to him: “I’m sorry I wasn’t with you at the mall daddy. They would not have thought you were suspicious if they saw you walking around with a child”. Early replies, “Thanks Linette. It’s nice to know I have a daughter that can protect me”. This last sentence really moved me. How do you guys feel about this? How do you feel about the whole incident? Has it ever happen to you? Someone you knew?

"The Black Intellectual" and "Going to Meet the Man"

In Gerald Early's work "The Black Intellectual", the author describes the manifold issues that permeate boxing. The black fighters face being looked down upon no matter the situation- they win by fighting to the true limits of their ability and the white spectators cry that the fighter is a barbarian. They loose, and the white spectators will declare the superiority of the white boxer. The sport is a vector and puppet show for the clashes in society; blacks fight blacks for the amusement of whites in a Jim-Crow era backwater style fight or blacks fight whites- the racial tension of the nation running towards integration visible and visceral in its brutal reality. Subconscious and conscious tensions are brimming in the fight. In James Baldwin's "Going to Meet the Man", the hypersexuality that lynching and black violence has been imbued with is described. The deputy sheriff's present day issues with black rights and his own sexuality are contrasted vividly; he is frustrated by the black protesters belief in their rights, and their failure to submit. So, as he lies in bed with the white woman who he is supposed to protect, he can't have sex with her. This is contrasted with the end scene, where he has to pretend she is black, and coerce her into sex to gain that feeling of empowerment that he is being deprived of in the daylight. The snarled mess of southern white male sexuality compels him to not want to be sexual with his wife, despise black males for the fear of them touching his wife, and hypersexualize black women since he cannot view his wife in this way. The scene where these values are first planted, like a seed in the young boy, provides stark contrast with the man who is shown in the picture frame scenes at the start and end of the piece.

The Invisible Man

While reading Ralph Ellison Invisible man Prologue i did not know what to say this passage gave me a great shock. This author did, in my eyes, something that was able to capture any reader in its pages. His use of the invisible man was something remarkable in my eyes but at the same time truly disgusting to read what happens to this young man. The worst part fro me to endure was the situation with the wet rug. Reading about these black men and their thrive to get the money off of an electrified carpet made me see the struggle blacks had to go through in life. Although, for these white men to use their wealth over the blacks was horrible to me. When the protagonist talked about the man who picked the blacks up just to throw them on the wet electrifying carpet I was truly in a state of disgust. Even though I was in this state I still felt a single sense of pride as the invisible man whom had been mistreated throughout the entire passage gained knowledge and was able to show how cunning he was throughout the whole passage. At first it seemed to me as if he was being fooled the whole time even own to reading his speech but after he embraced the whole situation I had the feeling the invisible man knew what he was doing as he had to surpass what was being thrown at him just to win.

Robert Hayden - Frederick Douglas

After reading the Robert Hayden poems, I did find one quite interesting. The one titled Frederick Douglas was one I thought was very powerful. In this poem, Robert Hayden talks about how freedom is needed for everyone just like man needs the air. Basically, in order to survive, everyone needs air to breathe. This connects to everyone needing freedom because without freedom, you basically cannot survive. Hayden also goes into talking about how Douglas pictured a world where no one is lonely, hunted or alien. So again, he is imagining that everyone is free and no one is going after one another and being discriminated against. So I thought those two points that Hayden brought up were very powerful. Another things that he goes into saying is that Douglas should not be remembered not with what he had done, but for what he has made out of his life. So basically that is saying that even though he has accomplished a lot, that should not remember him. Moreover, he should be remembered by what he did with his life. How he was a brute slave who was treated as an animal and then overcame hardships and gained his freedom. That is how Frederick Douglas should be remembered. So I just thought this poem was very powerful and interesting to read.

Martin Luther King Jr.

I found King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" really interesting for multiple reasons. His idea of using "direct action" to create tension that leads to negotiations and results. This is brilliant and I loved the explanation that he made to the clergy that he was writing to. He turned their argument completely around. First, he discussed their viewpoint (that only negotiation should be used to produce results) and then he discusses that direct action actually leads to negotiation. He discusses how negotiation alone has not worked in the past and direct action is his response to that.
I also liked how King discussed the idea of waiting for things to get better instead of acting on it. It made me think about the lack of action in the literature that we have been reading. Either the authors plan on waiting for improvement, or they discuss the problem without offering a solution. King not only offers a solution, but he has a plan to and is implementing it. I can only imagine how frustrating it would be for black people of the time to be told to "wait" for their rights. Doing this reading really impressed on me why so King appealed to so many people and was able to succeed where others had failed.

James Baldwin and Racial Antagonism

I was extremely moved by the depth and complexity of James Baldwin's "Going to Meet a Man" because it portrayed conflicting ideologies that one person has the potential to hold. Furthermore, at some point there needs to be a resolution between these two opposing ideologies, and I believe that is what results in this narrative. The character of Jesse holds an rigid point of view in public, when he feels as though he is subjected to being around blacks, but in private the audience sees a departure from that. Instead of his publicly influenced ideals, he confesses to his wife about a lynching he witnessed as a young child and the effect it had on him. Through conveying this story to his wife, even though she might not be listening, seems to resolve his perception of race in his community and in general. Keeping with Baldwin's effort to present racial antagonism, Jesse must confront his, for lack of a better term, devil that has been haunting him for a number of years. In his intro, it is stated that Baldwin suspects that if American's were every able to overcome racial antagonisms, then they would have to face a "Protestant Puritan Legacy," where there are multiple taboo's about sexuality and flesh. In his narrative, Baldwin has done that through including raw images along with a penetrating reflection on race.

James Baldwin's 'Going to Meet the Man'

I find that James Baldwin’s ‘Going to Meet the Man’ has several important themes that would be beneficial to point out and look further into. First of all, it demonstrates how humans are not born with racist thoughts, but that they arise during childhood, and from being exposed to racist behaviors and attitudes. The character Jesse was once an innocent child, who even was friends with another black child, but then was influenced by his father’s racist beliefs. His father made Jesse excited to witness the lynching of the black man, and made Jesse believe that black people are ‘bad’. Therefore, Jesse had a disliking for black people from very early in his lifetime, simply from the influences of others, and not because of any personal experience that would identify blacks as evil. I believe this is seen in racist individuals in today’s society as well. For example, an individual’s background and childhood environment seems to have a big impact on whether how racist one is. Usually, it is one’s parents who have the greatest impact on the individual, and therefore, will most likely have similar beliefs that their parents had, even if they are from past generations with past experiences. I believe this leads to another theme, which is the connection between a father and his son. Jesse, in wanting to feel connected and to be accepted by his father, was naturally open in believing anything his father had told him. This reminds me of Freud’s Oedipus Complex. Freud said that children have a sexual desire for the parent of the opposite sex. In this instance, sons have a sexual longing for their mother, and when this cannot be achieved, an effect is a closeness to their father. Jesse’s sexual longing for his mother is shown in the following sentences: “He wanted to call his mother, but he knew his father wouldn’t like this. He heard his mother’s moan and his father’s sigh; he gritted his teeth. His father’s breathing seemed to fill the world” (p.1756). When he knows he can’t have her because of his father, there is resentment, and he wants to be connected and respected by his father.

I found "Going to Meet the Man" by James Baldwin very interesting. I thought it was really interesting how Baldwin used Jesse's racism to fuel his sexuality. At the beginning of the story Jesse is clearly not able to have sex with his wife but talks about having degrading sex with black women. The story began to make more sense when he told the story of when he saw the lynching of a man as a small child. As I was reading this memory of his it seemed that at first he was very traumatized by the event but quickly learned to enjoy it. I specifically say he learned it because he is afraid at first but then sees that his mom, who he seems to idolize, enjoying it so he then convinces himself that it is fun and enjoyable. He also says that as he is watching the man be killed he is somewhat aroused by it. Also, when he is remembering beating a black boy, almost to death, in jail he remembers being turned on. All these instances show that he finds sexual pleasure in having, especially knowing that he has power over someone because he is white. At the beginning he is unable to have sex with his wife because she is white, meaning that he can't treat her like a piece of meat and can't find the pleasure in torturing her. At the end, after he has thought back to a few times where he has had power over blacks he is finally able to have sex with her.

Habits

On Monday, we talked a little about habits and how they can play a role in racism. I had never thought about this before, but this type of racism absolutely happens, all of the time from everybody, without even thinking about it. I’m not sure who said it in class, but they compared it to how you greet someone as you walk by them on your way to class. You don’t really stop and think about what the other person said; instead you already have a response for the habitual act of greeting somebody. Everyone’s guilty of this. When someone walks by and asks “hey what’s up” the usual response is “I’m good”. The response “I’m good” is not an answer to their question but you are so use to greeting someone as saying “I’m good” that you immediately say that without thinking. This can definitively be converted into racism. For instance the first day of class when we all sat down. Did we sit next to people that look like us? The answer is most likely. This is because we have formed habits of staying in our comfort zone, and for most of us that comfort zone is sitting and surrounding ourselves with people that make us feel comfortable, which in most cases translates into people that look like us, or are the same as us. What I’m trying to say is that this type of racism occurs all of the time, and I never thought about it until Monday, and I am glad that I am aware of this now.

One poem by Robert Hayden that I particularly appreciated was “O Daedalus, Fly Away Home.” I think the imagery used in this poem is unlike any poet we have read thus far. Hayden combines images of Africa with images of the American south. He follows his lines of “Drifting night in the Georgia pines, / coonskin drum and jubilee banjo” with “Night is juba, night is conjo.” (Norton, 1525). He seems to blend the two styles— country music and West African dancing. In these lines, Hayden seems to be addressing the issue of trying to maintain one’s heritage while embracing a new culture. This issue of identity reminds me of a trend I learned about in an education class regarding second and third generation immigrants. People from other countries still struggle with this blending of two cultures. This relates to our discussions of some African American writers seemingly betraying their culture by becoming educated and allegedly “becoming white.” It seems that people in this situation, who try to create a balance between two races, end up suspended between the two.

Langston Hughes "Red Silk Stockings"

I found Langston Hughes’s poem “Red Silk Stockings” to be one of his most interesting poems. In these 12 short lines, I felt there was a rather ominous double meaning that is rooted in two drastically different emotions: anger and pride. Hughes is referring to black women as the white man’s prostitute, highlighting their subordinate status as merely servants to what the white man desires, namely sexual desires, which is the most degrading form of servantry. In other words, these black women are allowed nothing better according to society, so they might as well do what the white man expects and intends for them, and let the men look at their legs. In contrast, Hughes’s words make me think that there is a sense of empowerment and pride in these African American women he is referring to. Though prostitution is considered demeaning and disreputable, his tone and language make me think that he is on their side, and justifying the women’s actions because it is true that they are beautiful, and men cannot help but look at them. Let the white men look, because black women are physically attractive, and deserving of a white man’s attention. Though Hughes describes the women as “too pretty” not to put on the red silk stockings and celebrate thier physique, the fact that the stockings are red alludes to the fact that these African American women still need to hide their true color in order to be beautiful.

Hughes vs. Cullen

In response to Emily's post on the comparison between Hughes and Cullen, I too can see the distinct differences between the writing and idealogies of Hughes and Cullen. While Hughes sticks to his roots, and is proud to be of African descent, Cullen wants to push his association with Africa far behind him, as if he is ashamed of where he came from. To me, these two stances seem very extreme. For Hughes, I can understand the desire to be proud of who you are, but the only subject he is writing about is being black. This gets quite repetitive and will not gain the respect he probably would of wanted from other poets, both black and white. While Cullen, on the other hand, doesn't want to be who he is. This is also hard to respect and understand. Although there are rough circumstances in his way, I feel you should never wear a mask or pretend you are something you are not. If a middle ground could be found between these two poets, I think that poet would be very successful and interesting to read.

Becky

Referencing Wednesday's class, I one piece that I thought was interesting was Arna Bontemp's "Becky," which has an interesting connection with Harriet Wilson's "Our Nig." In "Becky" we learn about the persecution of a white woman, Becky who has two black children. Similarly in "Our Nig" the audience becomes aware of Old Mag who marries a black man and has children as well. Although one is fictional and the other autobiographical, one can see the similarities through white society's perception of a relationship between a white woman and a black man. In "Becky" the reader is enticed through a neutral narrator, but he or she intentional illustrates the town's curiosity with Becky through a white perspective. On the other hand, Old Mag is depicted through the eyes of her abandoned child, which influences the narrator's perception of her mother. Something that is new in "Becky" is the fear instilled in society through her supposed death, which the narrator believes will happen through her return as a ghost. I find this striking because although people don't respect Becky, they fear her because of their behavior towards her. This leads me to believe that white society did know what they were doing and even though they knew it was wrong continued to look down upon Becky and her family. I find myself frustrated by the lack of morals that white society had because even though they knew what they were doing was wrong, they continued their persecution of Becky.

Relationship between Mrs. Ellsworth and Oceola

Hey everyone! In this week’s readings, I found Langston Hughes’ short story “The Blues I’m Playing” very interesting. Also, I felt that it was in some ways, similar to James Weldon Johnson’s “The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man”. In both stories, I feel as though the black, less-fortunate character is being manipulated by the non-colored, wealthy character. In both pieces of literature, the non-colored character is controlling and manipulating the actions of the non-colored character. In “The Blues I’m Playing”, on many occasions, Mrs. Ellsworth tries to control and dictate Oceola’s life and decisions. For example, Mrs. Ellsworth tries to convince Oceola to move out of her little flat and away from her roomer Pete Williams. Mrs. Ellsworth feels as though “the poor child [Oceola] is being preyed upon” and therefore, she must “get her out of Harlem at once.” (1318). I also found it very surprising how much Mrs. Ellsworth believed that art could replace love and relationships. For example, she says that Oceola “won’t need him [Pete Williams]. She will have her art” (1318). I was however very surprised to see that Oceola did not let Mrs. Ellsworth sway her decision to marry Pete.

My question for you all is whether or not you feel as though Mrs. Ellsworth (or in the case of Johnson, the millionaire) truly cared for Oceola’s development as a black individual or if she had a hidden agenda. It was very nice and generous of Mrs. Ellsworth to pay for so many things for Oceola however I wonder what Mrs. Ellsworth “intentions” truly were. Maybe they really were genuine. Maybe Mrs. Ellsworth simply wanted a better life for Oceola. Or maybe, she wanted Oceola to change into someone more like her. What do you guys think? Do you feel as though Mrs. Ellsworth allowed Oceola to live her own life or do you think she was too controlling?

"The Blues I'm Playing"

In Langston Hughes' "The Blues I'm Playing", the protagonist lives her life at odds with her patron. The elderly white woman wants to enforce a separation of the girl from her boyfriend, the jazz community, and black culture in general in order to transplant her into the world of 'art.' The piece represents a turmoil that was occurring in the artistic community of the time- does an artist need to create in a world devoid of all else? Should rough or passionate emotions be considered part of art and key to its success, or a contaminant? During the Harlem renaissance, the rise of jazz as an American art form was at odds with classical music. The soul of jazz was in improvisation, embellishment, and change. Classical music had passion, but it was imbued in the composers notes that the musician then played to share emotion. The elderly patron looked upon classical music as art, and refused to let it share its pedestal. Her protégé was representative of the open minded youth; art was created from her and she wanted to make people feel emotions beyond the transcendental feelings her patron longed for from classical music. There is also an underlying conflict of sexuality in the piece. The piano player is happy she is not pregnant out of wedlock with her boyfriends child, and insists on marrying him later in the story. Oceola argues that she can be married, have children, and still enjoy art. The childless patron has repressed her sexuality. She channels it through her patronage of young people- some beautiful and talented, others who talent was being beautiful. There is a hint at sexual tension where Mrs. Ellsworth is lying in bed with the girl she sponsors, and the author describes her own rationalization of these feelings "... aware all the time of the electric strength of that brown-black body beside he ... then Mrs. Ellsworth would feel very motherly toward this dark girl whom she had taken under her wing on the wonderful road of art, to nurture and love until she became a great interpreter of the piano." Mrs. Ellsworth channels her sexuality under the guise of true art and patronage of those seeking it- perhaps her reasons for chastising the emotional and raw art that was the new jazz and blues stemmed from her uneasy realization that she herself had mixed sexuality with art.

Confusion and Dismay

This week the one thing I thought about would have to be the a phrase from a Langston Hughes poem which was "not a Negro poet". This phrase made me think of how hard it had to be to not want to be acknowledges as your own race because of the wealth you would not get for it back in the days. This phrase also mad em me think to myself how wrong that boy was for stating that. After reading Langston Hughes work I brainstormed how important it was to be classified under the Negro poet or author category. Although, the struggles to make it to the top as one of these professions was very hard the reward for knowing you made it despite everything that would hold you back must have been something great. I can truly say if given the opportunity i would cherish being a Negro poet or author maybe even and artist. Just because of the simple fact I despite what people may have told me to put me down rose above the influence and did what had to be done to make it somewhere in society. Another thought that has been rolling through my head for not only this week but last week as well would be the changing of ones identity (black claiming whiteness) to get a head in life through the many passages read these are the ones that touch me the most. This is because the struggle these people go through just to have the opportunity to raise their family correctly or just to have something worth having is amazing to me as a person. Would i have the courage to put a mask over my face? Would anyone in society today have the courage and lie to people even if you knew it could be unsafe? i think NOT!!!

Identification

I was reading through some of the blogs for this week and I thought that the Harlem Renaissance is a period that I really though should be brought up this week for my blog. The two authors we read Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen both gave me to different perspectives of how blacks felt during this time. The two conflicting ideas here are whether to take pride in being black, or to try and be white with. In Langston Hughes poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, he writes as if he is proud to be black, while in Countee Cullen’s poem “Heritage”, he has a sort of feel of distance from Africa. To some degree I agree with his point of view and tone, attitude towards this because his poem was written in the 1930s at a time where his connection to Africa was very far away, so Countee Cullen really has no ties to Africa except his heritage. Countee Cullen was born in the United States and should take pride in being a black American. I definitely agree with what Emily was saying here about how she wasn’t sure whether believes that or not Countee Cullen was trying to be white, but at the same time, he does not take pride in his heritage of being Africa. I guess that is because he is not African but maybe he believes that he is a Black America. These two ideas where very controversial at this time because the black community viewed some of the people who were trying to act as though they where white as betrayers to the community but others, viewed them as individuals who are trying to make their way up the rankings in society. These topics are very touchy and hard to imagine for me because I am not black and have never experienced the type of self-identification that these authors had to do. I found it interesting how two people who are going through the same type of segregation and racial issues could have two opposite view points.

I think reading both Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen showed the contrast in ideas during the Harlem Renaissance, especially with Hughes' poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" and Cullen's poem "Heritage." In "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," Hughes accepts the history of blacks, he feels that it is important to acknowledge and celebrate everything black people have gone through in history. By him using "I" before every line, it is showing how he is uniting with the past and with all black people. I think if he would have used "they," it would have given the poem a sense of distance between the present and the past. Whereas in Cullen's poem, he rejects being associated with Africa. He feels that there has been too much time in between then and now to be able to connect. He does not know what Africa is, simply because he has never been there and cannot associate himself with it. In the first stanza he gives a stereotypical idea of what Africa might be like, not actually knowing if it is true or not.

I think the two poem contrast each other because while one poet, Hughes, is celebrating his heritage as an African American, they other is rejecting it. Like we read in "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain" by Hughes, he feels that blacks should love who they are, and appreciate their skin color instead of trying to change it or try to become more like whites. I am not sure if Cullen wants to be white or does not want to be black all together, but he really does not want associate himself with African culture. This also reminds me of "The Negro-Art Hokum" by George Samuel Schuyler because he also felt that whites and blacks are the same and that there should not be a difference because everyone is essentially the same despite the color of their skin.

Countee vs. Dunbar

While reading Countee Cullen’s “The Shroud of Color,” I was reminded of Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem, “We Wear the Mask.” They are similar in that both poets suggest that there are certain burdens, negative feelings, and obligations that come with being African American. Specifically, the lines in Countee’s poem, “Lord, being dark, forewilled to that despair / My color shrouds me in” reminds me of Paul Laurence Dunbar’s lines, “This debt we pay to human guile; / With torn and bleeding hearts we smile.” These lines from the two poems suggest that the burdens are laid by society and are determined based merely on the color of one’s skin. White people expect black people to bear the burden because they are black. This brings us back to our discussion of how hearing accusations and derogatory treatment can affect self-image.

The two poems differ in that Countee Cullen seems to be writing a poem of woe and despair, whereas Paul Laurence Dunbar seems to be encouraging his fellow African-Americans. It’s as if Dunbar suggests that he wears the mask because he is hurting inside, but Cullen suggests that he feels despair because of the color of his skin. Both poets convey the idea that society has forced this despair upon them, though.

Race vs. Class

I realized something when I read Langston Hughes' "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain". Hughes makes the point that it is very difficult for middle to upper class black artists to create art that truly represents black life. He almost implies that they aren't really black because they secretly want to be white. I realized that I've caught myself thinking the same thing during some of our readings. When I read an introduction that says the author was educated and wealthy, I have a harder time giving them credibility. It's like I assume that they aren't really writing about something they know and understand. I almost feel the same way that I would if I knew the author was white.
I feel that sometimes upper and middle class blacks are seen as their own entity. They aren't white so, they may not be able to fit in with the other middle class people around them. At the same time, there are people like Langston Hughes who don't really see them as black either. They kind of exist in this weird space where they are part of both groups without being a complete part of either. It amazes me that the relationship between class and race leads to such a weird situation.

Langston Hughes and Jean Toomer

Today in class Theo asked us to brainstorm about connections we found amongst the assigned reading for today. Well, I found a connection between Langston Hughes and Jean Toomer. I know their literature didn't relate to the earlier authors Theo recommended us to look at, but I found my connection to be both interesting and puzzling. I thought that both Langston Hughes and Jean Toomer had very different mindsets when it came to writing and I thought it was important to bring to my classmates attention.
The first part of my connection came from Toomer's biography. "His reaction to the matter (of race) was to hold the United States responsible for living up to its image as a melting pot; rather that viewing himself as black or white, he stayed the issue of race by referring to himself as an American (1168)." Now, I thought that this was a very bold statement, but strong of Toomer to feel this way. I kept that in mind when I read some of his reading and didn't see how that was portrayed in the literature until I read parts of "Cane."
When I read Literature written by Langston Hughes, he had mention writers like Jean Toomer. He said, "Both would have told Jean Toomer not to write "Cane." The colored people did not praise it. The white people did not buy it. Although the critics gave it good reviews the public remained indifferent (1313)." I thought this to be very interesting because their thoughts about race were drastically different. I was surprise to find this connection because they were writing in the midst of the same time period, yet it also made me think about the relationship Brooker T. Washington and W.E.B DeBoius had within their writing carrier. But then again, I feel as if a lot of writers had the same feeling Langston Hughes about Toomer. I say this because "In the words of Arna Bontempts, Harlem had gone "quietly mad" when "Cane" appeared.

Maya Angelou: Letters to My Daughter...

I decided to read a collection of short stories, poems and narratives. I enjoyed the book because Angelou dedicated it to all the daughters of every skin type and more: "black or white, Jewish or Muslim, fat or thin, gay or straight, educated or uneducated." I thought it made each and every story or poem told much stronger because Angelou did not discriminate.
Maya Angelou says, "You may not control all the events that happen to you but you can decide not to be reduced by them. If you try to make a change and if you can't make a change, then change the way you have been thinking." After I heard this, I though how inspirational this author is. I give this author a lot of respect because of how open she was with her struggles and coming forward to mention her idles that she looks up to and have changed her life. I felt like the author made the reader feel as if we were on the same level as her.
I found her struggles and issue that she mentioned to be as emotional as issues from the narrators in the first part of the semester. This being said, I allowed myself to think fondly and as inspiring as the earlier authors our class has read. Even though she did not live and suffer through the pains of slavery, she suffered through the loss of a daughter. She only had one son by the time she wrote thing book and was clearly at an age when she could have no more children. Hearing the pain and the agony that she went though is similar to the pain and suffering the slave narrators went through. I felt the same emotions while I was reading letter to my daughter and during the other tragic stories from this semester. I guess what mad me like it so much was the approach she took and the message she wanted to give to the readers. I appreciate how she took in mind the past, present, and future; I believe these qualities are what make her a great African American writer of today and I do truly believe that it should be recommended for the syllabus next semester. The reason I say this is because the style is simple, but the acknowledgement she gives her fellow colleagues and people as big as Oprah allows the reader to respect the author. The fact that the book is also Non-Fiction says a lot as well because I began to feel like it wasn't as choppy as Non-fiction can sometimes feel. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has taken this class, whether Theo adds it next semester or not.

P.S. this book makes you think about Silent Racism a little as well!!

Tony Morrison's Beloved

Tony Morrison’s 1987 novel Beloved, is a modern interpretation of the African American experience under slavery. Using a highly stylized narrative structure, Morrison tells the story of Sethe, a runaway slave mother, who cannot escape from the horrifying and traumatic details of her past. The story takes place during the reconstruction era, but often shifts between past and present, detailing the lives of its characters both before and after the end of slavery.
Although Beloved is a work of fiction, it in many ways resembles the slave narratives of the 19th century. This effect is achieved through Morrison’s use of flashbacks throughout the novel, which illustrate in graphic detail various aspects of plantation life, and other brutal elements of slavery in the South. In these flashbacks, Morrison uses evocative imagery to create realistic scenes that bring to life the horrors of life as a slave. Many of these flashbacks involve instances of sexual and physical humiliation that help to explain the intense pain felt by the characters. Through these scenes, Morrison is able to expand upon the tradition of the slave narrative. As an African American author in the late 20th century, being unable to write about slavery from first hand experience, she instead creates realistic, graphic portraits that evoke the feelings of fear and humiliation experienced by slaves. Rather than providing a historically factual account, this allows the reader to experience the feelings of despair felt by African American’s during and after slavery.
Stylistically, Beloved is also interesting in that it shifts between different literary forms in ways that are often jarring and sometimes confusing. In addition to numerous flashbacks, which are often presented out of order, Morrison switches between moments of third person narration, to other moments of first person interior monologue. This is especially noticeable in the part II of the book, when Sethe becomes convinced that Beloved is her dead daughter. As she becomes convinced of this, the language moves from a stream-of-conscious monologue, to broken, unpunctuated lines, and eventually ends in a form that resembles poetry. Morrison seems to use this shifting style to represent Sethe’s deteriorating mind, and it works to great effect. These shifts in complex styles give this novel a very postmodern feel. Although this can be difficult at times, I think that the complex style of this book helped to evoke feelings of pain, suffering, and confusion in African American literature in a way that I had yet experienced. I think that in doing this, Beloved is a great example of postmodern literature, and helps to show how African American literary forms are constantly evolving.

Assigment #2

In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s only, yet still very influential, novel entitled “Invisible Man”, we are introduced to a nameless, faceless narrator whose life as a black man is seemingly dictated only by the color of his skin. Certainly confused and unsure of his ultimate purpose and worth, the narrator often struggles in defining the social status of himself and the black population around him. Stemming from a haunting warning received as a child from his dying grandfather, the narrator feels confined by the stereotypes of his race and often curses his people as conforming to the oppressive wishes of white people. The novel begins and ends in the same setting, with our narrator in an hole, underground, in the basement of a building of all white tenants. The narrator attempts to illustrate to the reader why, even given his relatively fortune (being educated and highly able), his life has been reduced to one of such dismal seclusion.
The narrator leads the reader through his life, first a young child living in the south and his subsequent years living in Harlem, New York City. As alluded to, he is continuously reminded of his grandfather’s dying words and often measures his success in terms of the level at which he conforms to the wishes of the white population. However, throughout his struggle of defining himself and his relationship to the world around him, he finds it is not just the white man he needs to be weary of. As a promising child he is scarred by an incident at a men’s club, where the white men of his town grant the narrator scholarship to an all black college, only after they humiliate and exploit the boy for their own entertainment. While attending the all black college he meets the dean, Dr. Bledsoe, and decides Dr. Bledsoe is a black man whom he should aspire toward. However, Dr. Bledsoe betrays the narrator by expelling him for a relatively minor offense. Furthermore, Dr. Bledsoe provides the narrator with letters of recommendation which do not speak to his abilities, but rather deem him unable and unworthy of quality work. Additionally, whatever purpose the narrator finds in his position with The Brotherhood, a communist organization in Harlem who he works for, is squashed when the group decides to pursue issues other than the needs of the black community in Harlem.
Throughout his novel, Emerson depicts a character that struggles with his own “invisibility”, a seemingly blank soul whose identity is solely defined by the prejudices and stereotypes imparted upon him, and perpetuated by both the white and black populations. By the end of the novel, however, the narrator rejects his invisibility, and vows not to conform to the expectations of white society. The narrator commits himself toward the purpose of living a life not defined by racial boundaries, serving not as the voice of the black population, but rather as the voice of humanity as a whole.

Souls on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver

Souls on Ice is a book written by Eldridge Cleaver. Eldridge Cleaver was an author/ activist in the mid 1900s. This was a book filled with essays written by Cleaver while he was incarcerated. Growing up in the civil rights era made it difficult for most African Americans to succeed. Because of this, Cleaver was constantly in trouble as a kid. He was in and out of detention centers before he was finally arrested and put in jail for rape. While in jail, Cleaver managed to write many essays about events that happened in his life prior to his arrest. Cleaver's came across to me as a philosophical and political style of writer. Which is extremely interesting because he was explaining his crimes in a way where he felt that he was not wrong for committing them. For example, He felt like there was no such thing as rape when discussing black women and black men. So he did not feel like he was raping the black women while forcing them to have sex with them because they were the same race. He brought up slavery a couple of times in this book to support his bizarre ideas. He felt that the female slaves were only raped by their white owners, but when it came to black men, it was not considered rape anymore it was simply sex. Cleavers reasoning for raping black women and white women were different. He took a political approach for defending his actions towards the white women. He felt that since the days of slavery, the white women and the black men never had connections. In other words, white women were rarely seen or touched by the black men during slavery. in one of the essays Cleaver states, "All our lives we've had the white woman dangled before our eyes like a carrot on a stick before a donkey: look but don't touch. Calling for a moratorium on student initiative, they were greeted instead by an encore of sit-ins, and retired to their ivory towers to contemplate the new phenomenon" (71). This quote was very interesting to me because as I think about the former slave stories and the way society was structured at that time, it makes Cleaver's point more valid. I do not think that makes it right for raping white women, but his reasoning behind doing what he did is understandable. During slavery, Slave owner wives were never violated or physically tortured by slaves or the owners. The white race ruled society during slavery and during the civil rights movement. The only difference is the fact that the blacks were slaves during slavery and free during the civil rights movement. There was still social inequalities and racial profiling going on during the mid 1900s. Cleaver used many of his actions to retaliate against the social prejudices happening during that time.

"A Mercy" by Toni Morrison

“A Mercy,” by Toni Morrison, is a recently published novel (2008) set in America (mostly Virginia) during the late 17th century. Differing from most of the African American literature we have read thus far in this class, “A Mercy” is set during the early America when the slave trade was first beginning to boom. It was during this time that racial hatred began to sink its roots deep into America’s soil and where a woman, no matter what race she is, is completely at the mercy of the men surrounding her life.
Written in multiple first person point of view, Morrison brings her reader into the minds of several interesting characters: Jacob, a trader who sets out believing in hard-work and the honor in running a farm only to be sucked into the Sugar/Rum trade that relies on the sweat of the very institution he used to disagree with--slavery. Rebekka, the bride Jacob sends for from England, who suffers the loss of child after child. Lina, a Native American woman who witnessed smallpox wipe out her entire tribe. Florens, a young African slave Jacob receives as repayment for a debt and who is yearning to be loved. Florens mother, who pleads for her daughter to be taken in order for her to escape the lustful wrath of her current master. Finally, Sorrow, an initially mentally unstable girl from her past at sea that was ended by a terrible shipwreck and was eventually taken in by Jacob as a servant. Each character has his or her own voice and through their stories Morrison paints the tale of early America where race divisions were beginning to take root and blossom like ugly weeds.
Although Morrison skims the surface describing the horrors of slavery, how she weaves together the stories of the women in “A Mercy” and is able to demonstrate that no matter what the race, women in early America were completely dependent upon and at the mercy of the men surrounding them and in their lives. As Rebekka puts it as she is describing her voyage to America in the sterrage of a ship with women ranging from prostitutes to brides, “they had everything in common with one thing: the promise and threat of me” (98). Ruled by the men they work for, whether husband or bed-partner, the women are completely dependent on the gender that runs society. Florens’ mother, enslaved and abused by men, begs for Florens to be taken away so that she may have the chance to escape the world she herself is caught in. Lina was beaten by a “lover” at one time, yet describes it as acceptable passed 9PM in society. Florens pines after the love of a free black man only to find that he does not want her and thinks her only as a slave. When Jacob dies of “the pox,” Rebekka, Lina and Florens are faced with a wilderness and world that could take advantage of them at any turn.
The different voices of the characters, from Florens short, disconnected thoughts to Sorrow’s talking to “Twin,” her imaginary friend, made “A Mercy” an interesting read. This novel could not only be useful in this class but also in any class on gender in society or race relations in general.

Some Great Thing, by Lawrence Hill

Some Great Thing by Lawrence Hill, describes the story of a young black Canadian man, named Mahatma, pursuing a career as a reporter in Winnipeg, Manitoba in the 1980. Born to a black father and white mother, Hill moved to Canada in 1953 and I believe the ideas and experiences portrayed in his novel Some Great Thing stem from his own personal experiences. The main focus of Some Great Thing is the constant battle between the English and French populations living in Winnipeg in the 1980. During this time period, Winnipeg was on the cusp of being proclaimed a bilingual province and the English populations were fighting at all cost to prevent this transformation. There are so many parallels that can be made between this reading and those we have been doing in class such as the fight for equal rights amongst two different social groups. Despite the fact that the main battle being fought in this novel is over linguistic power, racial conflicts are an underlying issue that inevitably get addressed. I found it very interesting that throughout his novel, Hill addresses the issue of a black man not being able to ever fully rise to the same social standing as a white man. The former is very evident in the following passage, where a poor Indian boy asks a wealthy black judge for money:

“Hey, mister, I just lost my job, can you spare some change? […] ”
“I’ll have you know that I don’t give money in the streets. I am a judge!”
“You’re no judge.”
“Yes I am. I’m one of the highest people in this province, and I don’t hand out money in the streets. But I will buy you a sandwich if you wish.”
“[…] No fucking way! You’re no judge. You’re a cheap old nigger.”
“How can you say that? Don’t ever call people hurtful name, son.”
“Gimme a break.” The kid spat and turned away. “Judge or no judge, you’re a fucking nigger just the same.” (Hill, p.38-39)

This is one of many disrespectful conversations between different groups that clearly depicts an inferior victim and a superior oppressor. I felt that the tensions between the French and English added an interesting and refreshing aspect to the story. It made me realize that there are all different types of oppression occurring in the world. Furthermore, despite the fact that this novel is situated in a different time period than the literature we have read thus far, brutal and horrifying acts continue to be ever-present. For example, during a hockey game between two rival teams, a young French boy gets killed by a boy on the English team. Similarly, the Francophone Association of Manitoba gets bombed and an outrageous fire claim the life of many. These vicious acts, although different than those we’ve previously discussed, succeed in painting a picture of the injustices occurring amongst different groups.


In terms of his writing style, Hill uses a very simple vocabulary, thus making Some Great Thing easy to read and interpret. I feel as though this was done deliberately in order to reach and sensitize a wider range of audience to the subject of oppression and the constant fight for equal rights. Furthermore, as described by The Globe and Mail, Hill attracts his audience with sheer “naturalness of the hilarious script, while sneaking in telling stories about the sad state of race relations in this country." Over all, I really enjoyed reading this novel, and as anticipated, became more aware of the battles and obstacles those before us had to overcome in order to attain the world we live in today. If you’re looking for a fun, interesting and informative novel to read this summer, Some Great Thing is a good choice.:)