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Modern racial discrimination
Their eyes were watching god reader response essay
Explanation that their eyes were watching God
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It’s a shame that even to this day in the African American community, dark skinned people try to bleach their skin to look more “appealing.” It’s a shame that as a whole, the African American community continues to fight for justice against police brutality and the white man. It’s also a shame that over the span of 400 years, only 6 decades were put forth to get rid of segregation alone. Racism and prejudice still poisons this country and the communities within it.
“Their Eyes Were Watching God,” by Zora Neale Hurston does not solely focus on the topic of racism, yet there were instances where race was a factor in decision-making. I can compare these instances to those of once employed NFL player, Colin Kaepernick. For instance, Kaepernick
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(although standing up for what he believed) still had to go to work although he was being ridiculed and poked fun at. Although Tea Cake and Kaepernick were both victims of racism, they still had to “survive” and adapt to their surroundings. Chapter 19 (pgs.
160-180) of “Their Eyes Were Watching God” (TEWWG) describes an incident where Tea Cake was stereotyped and forced into free labor while Chapter 16 (pgs.133-139) focus on racism within the African American community. For instance, when Tea Cake and Janie first moved to the muck, Janie met a lady named Mrs. Turner who (despite being mixed) hated African Americans who were any shade darker than she was. The text states, “You’se different from me. Ah can’t stand black n**s. Ah don’t blame de white folks from hatin’ ‘em ‘cause Ah can’t stand ‘em mahself. ‘Nother thing, Ah hates tuh see folks lak me and you mixed up wid ‘em. Us oughta class …show more content…
off.” This quote is significant because it shows how big of an influence white culture can have on the African American community. When Janie lived in Eatonsville (an all African American community), the only competition there was between African Americans was their wealth, but now that she lives on the muck everyone glorifies white people. The lighter you are, the better. Chapter 19, however, described an incident after the hurricane on the muck, which left dead bodies everywhere. While people came together to get rid of them, Tea Cake was a victim of racism and stereotyping. The text states, “‘Hello there Jim...We been lookin’ fuh you.’ ‘Mah name ain’t no Jim,’ Tea Cake said watchfully… ‘Git on down de road dere, suh!
Don’t look out somebody’ll be beryin’ you! G’wan in front uh me, suh!’” This quote is an example of stereotism at its finest. The white men who approached Tea Cake in this quote automatically assumed his name to be Jim and spoke to him as if they’ve met him before (suggesting that all black people look the same and have the same name). They threatened Tea Cake with their rifles and made him join the other black men in burying bodies. Not to mention, later on in the chapter, the white men announced that all white bodies should not be buried in the ground, but placed inside of a coffin first without giving any concern to the African American bodies. While this infuriated Tea Cake, he could do or say nothing about it until he had a chance to escape. Tea Cake had to “survive” for that moment in time until he found a way to
escape. Tea Cake’s experience with the white men can compare to Colin Kaepernick, former NFL player for the 49ers, who protested America’s National Anthem over the treatment of minorities by taking a knee. While standing up for what he believed, Kaepernick was fired or he “resigned” from his position in the NFL.
What is one’s idea of the perfect marriage? In Zora Neal Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie has a total of three marriages and her best marriage was to Tea Cake. Janie’s worst and longest marriage was to Joe Starks where she lost her dream and was never happy. The key to a strong marriage is equality between each other because in Janie’s marriage to Joe she was not treated equally, lost apart of herself and was emotionally abused, but her and Tea Cake's marriage was based on equality and she was able to fully be herself.
..., she found her identity. It did not come easy for Janie. It took her years to find out who she really was.
Zora Hurston’s novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” depicts the journey of a young woman named Janie Crawford’s journey to finding real love. Her life begins with a romantic and ideal view on love. After Janie’s grandmother, Nanny, soon grows fearful of Janie’s newfound sexuality and quickly marries Janie off to Logan Killicks, an older land owner with his own farm. Janie quickly grows tired of Logan and how he works her like a slave instead of treating her as a wife and runs away with Joe Starks. Joe is older than Janie but younger than Logan and sweet talks Janie into marring him and soon Joe becomes the mayor of an all African American town called Eatonville. Soon Joe begins to force Janie to hide not only her
For as long as I can remember, racial injustice has been the topic of discussion amongst the American nation. A nation commercializing itself as being free and having equality for all, however, one questions how this is true when every other day on the news we hear about the injustices and discriminations of one race over another. Eula Biss published an essay called “White Debt” which unveils her thoughts on discrimination and what she believes white Americans owe, the debt they owe, to a dark past that essentially provided what is out there today. Ta-Nehisi Coates published “Between the World and Me,” offering his perspective about “the Dream” that Americans want, the fear that he faced being black growing up and that black bodies are what
Their Eyes Were Watching God is written by Zora Neale Hurston in the year of 1937. In the novel, the main character is Janie Crawford. Janie has been treated differently by others during her life because of how she was raised and the choices she has made throughout her life. The community is quick to judge her actions and listen to any gossip about Janie in the town. Janie is known to be “classed off” from other members in her community in various ways. “Classed off” means to be separate or isolated from other people.
At the tea party, Jack says words which humiliates African-Americans and shows how he hates Negroes (171-172). Against his statements, Irene exposes that Jack is "surrounded by three black devils" (172). It is significant that Irene includes Clare as one of the "black devils." This implies that Irene classifies Clare as a part of the black community even...
When thinking about the novels that are read in high school, To Kill A Mockingbird and The Great Gatsby come to mind for most people. The novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston usually is not thought of. Throughout the years, critics believed Hurston’s novel to be just fiction and that it pose no meaning. In spite of the novel not having much politics, it does contain many social issues from the past that are still somewhat relevant today. Above all, Their Eyes Were Watching God deals with the way people are unequally treated in society based on their gender, race, or anything that makes them diverse from others. It is probable that Hurston brings up the controversial issues of her time era in the hope to cause a transformation in the world.
The Harlem Renaissance was all about freedom of expression and the search for one's identity. Zora Neale Hurston’s, Their Eyes Were Watching God, shows these goals through the main character Janie and her neighbors. Janie freely expressed what she wanted and searched for her identity with her different husbands. Even though Janie was criticized by everyone except her friends, she continued to pursue. She lost everything, but ultimately found her identity. Hurston's writing is both a reflection and a departure from the idea of the Harlem Renaissance.
“Beans running fine and prices good, so the Indians could be, must be, wrong. You couldn’t have a hurricane when you’re making seven and eight dollars a day picking beans. Indians are dumb anyhow, always were.” (Their Eyes Were Watching God) The Native Americans were correct about the hurricane, but the African Americans completely disregarded what they said because they were prejudiced, stated they were dumb, and claim that they always were. One of the few true examples of racism present in the story would be when the two white men forced Tea-Cake to bury bodies. First, the men forced Tea-Cake to do manual labor, and then when they were sorting the bodies, told Tea-Cake to throw African Americans into a ditch, and save the white people for coffins. Even after they die, there is still prejudice against African
Zora Neale Hurston once said, “Happiness is nothing but everyday living seen through a veil.” In post-slavery African American society, this statement was unusual, as society was focused on materialistic values. The “veil” Hurston mentions is a lens used to sift through one’s beliefs; to help one understand that what they have is more important than what they don’t. Hurston alludes the veil in her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, in the form of a fish-net, saying “She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it in from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulders" (193). Just like the veil, the “fish-net” allows one to sift through one’s beliefs, deciding what is important and what is not. Essentially, Hurston
First, racism still plays a big factor in today’s society as it did fifty years ago. Some might say that everyone has equal opportunity, but some people in America will never see that blacks and whites are equal. Humans have the tendency to judge what is on the outside before seeing who the person really is. The South is the main area where the darker colors mean there is less opportunity and lighter colors mean that there’s more. In today’s society the ability to attain the American Dream is heavily influenced by race. While it is still p...
Flannery O’Connor was writing in the times of high racism and the civi rights movement, which may have influenced a few racial slurs in the story on page 2, such as “‘…look at the cute little [black child]!’…‘He didn’t have any britches on’…‘He probably didn’t have any.’”
Racism within the black community is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. In the black community, African-Americans are discriminating against each other, putting those with lighter skin complexions against those whose skin is darker. In the African American community, it’s like a battle of the skin tones. This type of racism is also known as colorism, the belief that those with lighter, fairer skin are treated with a higher respect than those with darker skin, this issue has been happening for a long time within the African American community. This form of racism is more offensive, severe, and different than the common traditional racism.
This story by Zora Neale Hurston is about a young woman named Janie Crawford, who is trying to find self-independence and real love. She finds herself in three marriages where she learns a lot about love. Each marriage Janie was in was all different and they all taught her different things. Janie married Logan Killicks, Joe Starks and then Vergible Woods. The following events that reflected Janie’s emotional, spiritual and physical growth were represented by her three husbands.
In “Pantaloon in Black” Faulkner seems to digress from the story of the McCaslin’s and focuses on a black man, Rider, who goes crazy with grief after his wife’s mysterious (to the reader) death, kills a white man he works with, and is executed. This story clearly illustrates the racial discrimination by whites. After the entire ordeal, the sheriff’s deputy tells his wife about the events and in the process allows us to see how racist he is. He compares blacks to a “damn herd of wild buffaloes” when it comes to having feelings (150). Also, when he describes Rider’s actions after his wife’s death, he says that the town “expected him to take the day off since even a nigger couldn’t want no better excuse for a holiday” cruelly suggesting that blacks are lazy and will use any excuse to have a day off of work (151).