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.