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The effect of apartheid on the lives of Africans
The impact of Apartheid on South Africans
The impact of Apartheid on South Africans
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In July’s People, Nadine Gordimer gives a very detailed and knowledgeable explanation of the political turmoil within South Africa. By expressing the emotions of a family involved in the deteriorating situation and the misunderstandings between blacks and whites, she adds a very personal and emotional touch, which allows the reader to understand the true horror and terror these people experienced. Gordimer writes of how the Smales family reacts, survives, and adjusts to this life altering experience. She makes obvious throughout the book that prejudice plays a major role in uncovering the reactions of Bamford and Maureen Smales. The Smales were a suburban, upper middle class, white family living in Southern Africa until political turmoil …show more content…
This innocence contributes greatly to the rate and comfort in which they adjust to living in July’s village. Bam and Maureen may not have felt prejudice towards the black race, but were certainly prejudice about the lifestyle in which they must now live, a lifestyle completely stripped of any and all luxuries they once enjoyed. All of the family members, facing a new way of life, adjust to their situation in radically different ways. Each one drifts in their own direction in search of comfort and acceptance throughout their experiences living amongst July’s …show more content…
July lets Bam drive this time, which is an unusual and rather important change. Bam thought that the chief was going to expel him and his family from the black community in which they had found refuge, but decided against telling his wife or family in order to keep them calm. When July introduced Bam to the chief he said, "Chief, this is the master"(111), which the Smales absolutely hated. This was another reference to the sudden shift in power and change in the relationship between the Smales and July that had occurred because of the trip to the Chief. The meeting was in fact over the gun, which was yet another possession of the white family signifying power that was soon to be lost and taken by the blacks. During the meeting the chief displayed a misunderstanding of the situation outside his community and showed interest in the gun because he wanted to know how he could protect his people if anything should go wrong. After the meeting with the chief, Bam is relieved that his family is allowed to remain in the village, but confused about the awkward political structure of the black community. Maureen, who doesn’t play a significant role in the meeting between the men, does act as a mother and a wife for the first time since their arrival to the
Blacky’s friendship with Dumby Red causes Blacky to stop making racist jokes and comments. Throughout the novel Gwynne drives the reader to reject the racist values, attitudes and beliefs of Blacky’s community, as seen in his portrayal of racist ideas in the town, the marginalisation of the Nunga community, Blacky’s emerging ideology and how it influences and empowers him to respond to the death of Dumby.
Amina Gautier has been awarded with Best African American Fiction and New Stories from the South; in addition, she has successfully created At Risk. Gautier’s story is based on the African American community and the different types of struggle families can realistically face. However, if a white person would have written this exact story it could have been misinterpreted and considered racist. Stereotypes such as fathers not being present, delinquencies and educational status are presented in the various short stories. “Boogiemen”, “Afternoon Tea” and “Some Other Kind of Happiness” are all examples of stories in which the father is not present.
As people live to this day’s constant demands, they often mention how their lives are ‘horrible’, but no life can be more horrific than just one day in the groove of Wanda Bridgeforth’s life growing up during the 1930’s. Wanda Bridgeforth was a survivor of The Great Depression, and she has quite a story to tell. Surely, she can relate to someone like Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird, although her skin is a different shade. Wanda would had never known what it was like to grow up as an African American if she didn’t primarily reside in what was known as the ‘Black Metropolis’, if she didn’t have major money shortages in her family, if she didn’t live in a constantly cramped housing space, or if she wasn’t transported away to live with a whole different group of people.
The stories that the author told were very insightful to what life was like for an African American living in the south during this time period. First the author pointed out how differently blacks and whites lived. She stated “They owned the whole damn town. The majority of whites had it made in the shade. Living on easy street, they inhabited grand houses ranging from turn-of-the-century clapboards to historics”(pg 35). The blacks in the town didn’t live in these grand homes, they worked in them. Even in today’s time I can drive around, and look at the differences between the living conditions in the areas that are dominated by whites, and the areas that are dominated by blacks. Racial inequalities are still very prevalent In today’s society.
In his novel, A Gathering of Old Men, Earnest Gaines summons the readers into has world. Based in the 1970s, this coming of age novel talks about how the death of a white man, somehow bring old black men to come together. Two characters, Mathu and Charlie, encounters a major change or realization that results from a shooting. This situation occurs during the times of extreme racial tension, Mathu stands firm his ground in a land full of whites. Charlie, om the other hand, is nothing like Mathu, in
A predominantly black town in Florida by the name of Rosewood was abandoned in 1923 due to the city being left in devastating ruins after a horrendous bloodshed massacre. The massacre was initiated by accusations of a black man by the name of Jesse Hunter assaulting a white female by the name of Fanny Taylor. But their troubles didn’t begin there this was long awaiting battle due to prior false information that often ended with a black person being lynched.The incident regarding Jesse Hunter and Fanny Taylor set havoc to the little town of Rosewood.In spite of the rumors that the two were romantically involved or that at least the woman was using the incident to cover up her premarital affairs. Meanwhile, members of the Ku Klux Klan rallied in nearby towns and gathered people to go and rise terror on Rosewood. The one person who knew the truth was a man named Sam Cartier. Who was lynched by the Ku Klux Klan as a warning to whoever was helping Jesse. It was soon rumored that Jesse’s friend Aaron’s cousin Sylvester was hiding him at his house. The KKK demanded
They lived there because they were poor and black, and they stayed there because they believed they were ugly.” (1.2.1) consistently focusing on that the Breedloves ' property is not simply momentary; she highlights that it is involved. Their race as well as their self-loathing and mental issues hold them down. Dunbar underlined in his piece the seriousness of the agony and enduring that these covers attempt to conceal. When he says “ And mouth with myriad subtleties” There 's an entire host of “subtleties” that play into the distinctive classifications of society and class, particularly when you 're managing the unstable world of racial prejudices. This family is facing hardships due to social class and race Morrison addresses the misfortunes which African Americans experienced in their movement from the country South to the urban North from 1930 to 1950. They lost their feeling of group, their association with their past, and their way of
As much as race does not matter, it does. Morrison leaves out the race of Twyla and Roberta to inadvertently expose the role of learned racism in the world of “Recitatif.” Upon entering St. Bonny’s, Twyla is placed in a room with a girl from a completely different race and assesses the situation, “And Mary, that’s my mother, she was right. Every now and then she would stop dancing long enough to tell me something important and one of the things she said was that they never washed their hair and they smelled funny.” (Morrison 1). Twyla’s first observation of Roberta, her skin color, is immediately indicative of the environment she has lived in, as the basis for her racial
When she first is confronted by the problem or race it hits her with a thump. Bob takes Alice to dinner where she states, “I don’t want feel like being refused” (55). Alice does what she can to avoid the face of racism. She lacks the integration within the different community, which gives her a one-path perspective. While going to the restaurant with Bob, he asks, “Scared because you haven’t got the white folks to cover you” (55)? She doesn’t have the protection of her friends or her parents to shy away from the truth of her being African American. She is hiding behind a mask because she’s passing as white. She’s accepting the assumption that she belongs to their culture. When she goes out, “with white folks the people think you’re white” (60). But, when she goes out with Bob there is nothing to hide behind. She’s confronted with the truth. Already feeling low about the restaurant, and getting pulled over by the cops, she uses her wealth to get out of the situation. She says, “I am a supervisor in the Los Angeles Welfare” (63). The power of her family shows that she be treated better by the cops and others in the
She leaves behind her family in order to pursue what she believes is the greater good. She leaves behind a family of nine, living in extreme poverty, to live with her biological father—who runs out on her at a young age to satisfy his need to feel big and important, simply based on anxieties about the hardships around him. Moody comes from a highly difficult and stressful situation, but she stands as the only hope for her starving family and leaves them behind for a life of scholarship and opportunity. This memoir leaves the reader with a sense of guilt for Moody’s decisions, and one may even argue that these decisions happened in vain, as the movement never made a massive impact on race relations. Unfortunately for Moody, she would continue to witness atrocious hate crimes up until the year of her
Lorraine Hansberry’s Raisin in the sun displays the struggles faced by an African American family living in Southside Chicago during the onset of the Civil Rights Movement. In the opening scene, Walter Lee Younger reads from the front page of the newspaper “Set off another bomb yesterday” (6). This news bulletin presents the major issues of the time period surrounding the war on Civil Rights and gives insight into the Younger family’s future intentions to move into a white neighborhood. The conflict-taking place in Southside Chicago over housing causes tension for the surrounding community, especially when they read news articles publicizing the brutal murders of those who try to improve their situations by moving into a white neighborhood. The family’s own efforts have failed to provide the income necessary to move into a bigger home in a better neighborhood. It is not until Walter Younger Sr. passes away and augments the family’s financial situation, through a life insurance policy for $10,000, that the Younger’s are able to pursue better living conditions. Unfortunately, this newfound fortune causes friction between the family members, especially between Walter Lee and Mama Younger. In pursuit of her own happiness, Mama Younger puts a down payment on a house in Clybourne Park, a white neighborhood. It is her right to pursue happiness in the manner she chooses. The right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is the American way. Her happiness is in a home for her and her family. The conflict over whose happiness will be
The change in a social class is something that is shown in every day life and the media. It is the American Dream to move upward in society. The movie Sweet Home Alabama is a prime example of social mobility in the main character. The main character Melanie Carmichael left her small town Alabama home and achieved an impressive upward social mobility. She began her life as a daughter of a respectful working class family to become a world famous fashion designer in New York City. At the beginning of the movie, Andrew, the mayor’s son, proposes to Melanie. She says yes, but before she can marry him, she has to clear up a not so final divorce with Jake, her high school sweetheart she left behind. Melanie is now caught between two classes and two cultures, the working class that she grew up in and the upper class she has now placed herself in. As the film continues, her dilemma will require her to acknowledge and reconnect with her mother who lives in a trailer park while still trying to impress h...
Baldwin being visits an unfamiliar place that was mostly populated by white people; they were very interested in the color of his skin. The villagers had never seen a black person before, which makes the villager
Morrison provides the reader with a light-skinned black character whose racist attitudes affect the poorer, darker blacks in the community, especially the main characters, Claudia MacTeer and Pecola Breedlove. Maureen Peal comes from a rich black family and triggers admiration along with envy in every child at school, including Claudia. Although Maureen is light-skinned, she embodies everything that is considered "white," at least by Claudia's standards: "Patent leather shoes with buckles...fluffy sweaters the color of lemon drops tucked into skirts with pleats... brightly colored knee socks with white borders, a brown ...
In July’s People, Nadine Gordimer gives a very detailed and knowledgeable explanation of the political turmoil within South Africa. By expressing the emotions of a family involved in the deteriorating situation and the misunderstandings between blacks and whites, she adds a very personal and emotional touch, which allows the reader to understand the true horror and terror these people experienced. Gordimer writes of how the Smales family reacts, survives, and adjusts to this life altering experience. She makes obvious throughout the book that prejudice plays a major role in uncovering the reactions of Bamford and Maureen Smales.