Chappelle, Appiah and Toure’
Appiah and Toure’ both views are somewhat connected. In their work they mention things about the irony of how many races are today and also include postmodernism. In the work of Appiah he talks about how once people are given racial labels they are somewhat stuck to believe that they should act according to the labels they are given. According to Appiah “Once the racial label is applied to people, ideas about what it refers to, ideas that may be much less consensual than the application of the label, come to have their social effects. But they have not only social effects, but psychological ones as well; and they shape the ways people conceive of themselves and their projects. In particular, the label can operate to shape what I want to call ‘identification’: the process through which an individual intentionally shapes her projects including her plans for her own life and her conception of the good-by reference to available labels, available identities.”(44) Toure’ believes that people can break away from their labels and become something better, and that’s where black irony comes from.
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In Class we watched a video from the old Dave Chappelle show, in the video Dave Chappell played a blinded black racist man who didn’t know he was black.
In the video Dave Chappelle views of African Americans where the same views of a racist white male. Chappell video showed a example of black irony when he was playing a black racist man no one expected a black man to be racist to his own race, also in reality as while because no one during these time would ever expect someone to come up an idea to shame African Americans like he did in this skit. Also in the skit he showed how people perform according to their label or role, on the show he showed how people act according to their roles by showing when he was white he thought he was better than black people and thought he was so smart, but when he found out he was black all of that
change. In the skit Dave Chappell tried to somewhat make the situation seem funny. Dave Chappell tried to turn a horrible time of America history into a joke, but it wasn’t funny at all.To me the whole skit was very offensive. I guess in a way Dave Chappell was trying to show people that that was then and this is now, to show how far we have come. Also to indicate to other that we have power over our future. This part connects back Appiah when he explained “So here are my positive proposals: live with fractured identities; engage in identity play; find solidarity, yes, but recognize contingency, and above all, practice irony. In short I have only the proposals of a banal ‘postmodernism’.” This could be a idea of how Dave Chappell doesn’t live up to the normal black male expect, because of how he acts. He using this skit to show that when he found out he was black he begin to take on the racial label. Overall, Dave Chappell skit was a perfect example to connect with Appiah and Toure’ ideas. Dave Chappell skit showed black irony and postmodernism, and it related to what Appiah and Toure’ were explaining.
This paper discusses black psychology and offers insights on black identity. It explains the need to lean towards the black radical school of thought as opposed to the traditional school of thought. Furthermore, this paper will explain the connection between the history of black psychology and black identity.
In his essay, “On Being Black and Middle Class” (1988), writer and middle-class black American, Shelby Steele adopts a concerned tone in order to argue that because of the social conflicts that arise pertaining to black heritage and middle class wealth, individuals that fit under both of these statuses are ostracized. Steele proposes that the solution to this ostracization is for people to individualize themselves, and to ‘“move beyond the victim-focused black identity” (611). Steele supports his assertion by using evidence from his own life and incorporating social patterns to his text. To reach his intended audience of middle-class, black people, Steele’s utilizes casual yet, imperative diction.
Du Bois' metaphor of double consciousness and his theory of the Veil are the most inclusive explanation of the ever-present plight of modern African Americans ever produced. In his nineteenth century work, The Souls of Black Folks, Du Bois describes double consciousness as a "peculiar sensation. . . the sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity" (Du Bois, 3). According to Du Bois assertions, the Black American exists in a consistent "twoness, - an American, a Negro"(3). Further, he theorizes, the African American lives shut behind a veil, viewing from within and without it. He is privy to white America's perspective of him, yet he cannot reveal his true self. He is, in fact, protected and harmed by The Veil.
...nly seen in everyday television. Common beliefs of black families being more aggressive, having lesser moral values, and living less socially acceptable and lawful lives can be clearly seen through the actions of the white characters, and the thoughts that Chris expresses throughout the episode. The show uses satire to exaggerate black stereotypes to the point where it means the opposite of the comedic nature of which it was presented. The treatment and visualization of the lives of the black characters in the episode, through comedy and exaggeration, clearly shows the real-life problem of black stereotyping that is still all too present in American life. Chris’ everyday life as a black student in a white school and struggle to “fit in” is a struggle that non-white students have faced and are still facing today.
Kwame Anthony Appiah is a contemporary philosopher born in London. Although raised in the “Western” world, he comes from Ghanaian descent, making his life rich in culture. He presents a compelling argument in his piece “The Case for Contamination”. Appiah argues that we are living in a globalized world, and that while characteristics and ideas in society are changing, it does not necessarily mean that there is a loss of culture. His “case for contamination” preaches the notion that sometimes change is good, and that in order for us to thrive as a society, change is need and should be welcomed with grateful attitude.
In The Soul of Black Folk, W.E.B. Du Bois talks about the struggles that the African Americans faced in the twentieth century. Du Bois mentions the conflict that concepts such as the “double consciousness” (or duality), “the veil” and the “color-line” posed for Black Americans. In his book he says that African Americans struggle with a double consciousness. He explicates that African American are forced to adopt two separate identities. First they are black, and that identity pertains to the color of their skin, the second identity is the American identity. However, he continues that the American identity is tainted because it is that if being American now but were slaves first. In other words, the double consciousness is saying that black people
His article was towards the reader of the The New York Times which would imply most of the American population. He would have had to write his article differently if his target audience was just African American because of the way he says, “St. Paul de Vence, France--The argument concerning the use, or the status, or the reality, of black English is rooted in American history and has absolutely nothing to do with the question the argument supposes itself to be posing.”(Baldwin paragraph 1). He mentions St. Paul de Vence which ties into trying to connect to people that speak French and then mention it in his article. Making his argument toward almost everyone that reads The New York Times because if it was just towards African American or even people that discriminate against African-American, his tone would reflect it. The language he uses is casual like when he says, “Now, no one can eat his cake, and have it, too, and it is late in the day to attempt to penalize black people for having created a language that..” (Baldwin paragraph 6) This type of language can connect to any reader, because of how he incorporates his message, also conveying his message in a light-hearted way. The words seem light-hearted based on the way he transitions from dialect being related to culture to talking about African American culture and how it is being overshadowed by American culture. When speaking directly
The narrator of The Autobiography of an Ex-colored Man was born to a “colored” mother and white father. This combination of his identity led him to encounter many internal and external challenges. Physically he appeared white, so he experienced being able to “pass” as both “colored” or white whenever he wished. Being able do such a thing, the narrator struggled with racial boundaries. He embodied almost every permutation, intentional or unintentional, of the experience when encountering various racial (white and “colored”) communities, eventually deciding to pass as white at the end of the novel. Due to cowardice, instead of representing his race, he suppressed the African-American part of his identity and destroyed his chances of achieving true contentedness and self-awareness.
I was late for school, and my father had to walk me in to class so that my teacher would know the reason for my tardiness. My dad opened the door to my classroom, and there was a hush of silence. Everyone's eyes were fixed on my father and me. He told the teacher why I was late, gave me a kiss goodbye and left for work. As I sat down at my seat, all of my so-called friends called me names and teased me. The students teased me not because I was late, but because my father was black. They were too young to understand. All of this time, they thought that I was white, because I had fare skin like them, therefore I had to be white. Growing up having a white mother and a black father was tough. To some people, being black and white is a contradiction in itself. People thought that I had to be one or the other, but not both. I thought that I was fine the way I was. But like myself, Shelby Steele was stuck in between two opposite forces of his double bind. He was black and middle class, both having significant roles in his life. "Race, he insisted, blurred class distinctions among blacks. If you were black, you were just black and that was that" (Steele 211).
Stereotypes are created in today’s society for people who are deemed as different, not dominant, or unprivileged. Those who do not fall into a stereotype are often seen as privileged. One of the largest, and longest lived stereotype is race, specifically those who are African American. It is seen as a privilege to be viewed and treated as a white person, while those who fall into any other race are viewed and treated as being different. Recently, I have become very aware of difficulties facing the minorities. Before I witnessed an incident, I had been blind to the fact that there are privileges and so many stereotypes in today’s society. This blindness that I was experiencing, however, “is an aspect of privilege itself, … ‘the luxury of obliviousness’”
African Americans have been dealing with “double-consciousness” since the age of slavery. They always struggled when it came to know where they belong or what their identity is. Although throughout history some African Americans feel as they are part of American society yet a handful of them thing otherwise. It is not their fault that they question who they are and where they belong because after all the things they went through, they are afraid to raise their voice for their rights. That fear of being treated bad is always there. People like Bill Cosby are doing anything in their power to try to encourage African Americans to be better people and be part of the society. It will take few generations for “double-conciseness” to not be part of African American culture. But as time passes we as a society will overcome it.
In his essay, his writes “One day one of a the group Irish kids passing through our block called me a n*****” and he also writes“The murder of light-skinned Emmet Till made me feel like a real Negro”. Even though he didn’t feel he could identify with being either white or black and wasn’t offend when called he was called a n*****. It wasn’t till something as cruel as the Emmet Till murder, that opened his eyes to the reality of things. He writes how he felt like a feel real Negro because of it, and I feel he means that he had a reality check and the differences he saw between him and other blacks like him dancing like an animated tin man and not speaking Ebonics meant nothing and regardless of all that, he was black in the eyes of the Euros(as he would call them). None of those things mattered to Euros and they didn’t care about how you spoke. They didn’t care if you were a good person or if you were of a light complexion. Only one thing mattered to the Euros, and that was your skin color, black was black to them.
Appiah, Kwame Anthony. “Race, Culture, Identity: Misunderstood Connections.” Ways of Reading: An Anthology for Writers. Ed. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. 101-131. Print.
In the film Bamboozled by Spike Lee, he creates a show within the movie. The show is basically Black actors who paint themselves Blacker and their lips redder than they really are. This is to show the current audience how Whites saw Blacks during the Jim Crow era. W.E.B. Dubois states in all of his pieces that the White man see all Black people the same way. W.E.B. Dubois and Spike Lee are two Black men that have accepted the facts of White America but overcame the prejudice remarks. Dubois and Lee both in writing and film showed perceptions of the Blackness within the Black community by showing segregation, and racism.
Although artists like Al Bernard and Bert Williams were performers of physical blackface on stage in the 20th century, the hipster has shown to become a form of non-physical blackface. A type of blackface that isn’t ridiculed or criticized by society, but accepted or sometimes even ignored as a grand section of American popular culture. The essay gives us a walkthrough by Mailer on how he thinks the hipster and the Negro have joined together in the form of the White Negro. The psychoanalysis and exploration of the struggle of the hipster by Mailer throughout his essay leads to an almost perfect understanding of the new concept that he is trying to convey.