Analysis Of A Day With My Father By Danzy Senna

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In an excerpt titled “A Day with My Father” from the novel Caucasia by Danzy Senna, Birdie and her father spent a day in the park together. Her father is black and she’s white, which caused some problems during their visit. The author used person v. person conflict to convey the problem of racism in the excerpt.
Racism has existed almost since the beginning of time, with all kinds of people. Birdie’s father was black and went to a predominantly white college and had to deal with the consequences of racism over the years. The text explains how his classmates saw him, when he was around “Listening to those sweatered tow-haired preppies talk about the Negro Problem, nursing their vermouth, glancing at him with so much pleased incredulity in their eyes.” His peers knew he was black and …show more content…

Birdie’s father was black and they were white, and they treated him differently because of their views on white superiority. While Birdie and her father were relaxing in the Public Gardens, Birdie saw an older couple looking at them funnily. The story says, “When I was done with the funnies, I watched the sky--the shapes of animals made out of clouds. And when I tilted my head slightly to the side, I saw again that strange couple with their grey terrier, pointing at me… They were talking to two men in uniform, the police on their beat, and then the four of them were trudging across the grass in our direction.” Birdie and her father weren’t doing anything wrong. Her father was sleeping and she was reading the funnies and watching the clouds. The couple only went to the police because they saw a black man with a white girl and thought the worst. They didn’t consider that they were related, they just thought that he had kidnapped Birdie.

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