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Racism in literature
Racism in American Literature
How african americans were portrayed in literature over time
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It is pretty evident that race plays a significant part in molding the American history. Authors and poets have written works to express that part of adversity, that has prevented people from certain ethnic groups from achieving the American dream. Brent Staples author of the short story “Just Walk On By” narrates different flashbacks of when he was the subject of racism. Marilyn Chin, who wrote the poem “How I Got That Name”, dealt with the difficulty of fitting in and on top on the expectations from her as a Chinese American. “American” by Claude McKay, includes the struggles he faced while living in America using similes and metaphors. All three texts delivered literary devices to illustrate race and how it can limit individuals from different ethnic groups, which results in unequal …show more content…
Staples includes alliterations and flashbacks throughout his story, starting off with his first sentence. “My first victim was a women - white, well dressed, probably in her twenties” (Staples 1). Staples draws the reader's attention by carefully picking out the word “victim” in order to create suspense follow by the alliteration. He not only describes her using alliterations but also himself. “To her, the youngish black man - a broad six feet two inches with a beard and billowing hair, both hands shoved into the pockets of a bulky military jacket” (Staples 1). He is emphasizing him and the women’s feature showing the readers how and why his figure and features would alarm a white women. Throughout the story, Staples use flashbacks to recall his experiences with encounters from people. In one of those flashbacks, he uses onomatopoeia to indicate the
Staples, Brent. “Black Men and Public Space.” Reading Critically, Writing Well. Sixth edition Eds. Rise B. Axelrod and Charles R. Cooper. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002. 134-136. Print.
“Just Walk On By” started out as Staples’ sad life story, but turned into the story of a man who eventually came to terms with the difficulties he would deal with in his life, and he faced them with a positive attitude. “Complexion,” unfortunately, ended with Rodriguez feeling self-defeated and believing he would never find a resolution to his problem. He did not want to ignore the issue of his skin color, but let it slowly take over his life. Seeing them side-by-side, these essays start out with the same problem, but eventually go in completely different directions near the end. Staples and Rodriguez dealt with the racism and social judgment on the inside and both had radically different resolutions.
The main purpose of an article is what the reader should learn from it. For instance, the main purpose for “Just Walk On By” is to show the world how unconscious prejudice and racism still exist. Staples uses many rhetorical devices in his writing to help the reader understand his point of view. He uses rhetorical devices such as onomatopoeia, hyperbole, and diction. Diction is a tremendous part of this article. He uses words such as “As I swung onto the avenue behind her (Staples),” and “Both hands shoved into the pockets of a bulky military jacket (Staples).” Although he did not hurt her, the words swung, shoved and bulky creates a more aggressive feel of the image perceived by the reader. An onomatopoeia is the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named. The formation of the word “thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk (Staples)” is associated with the sound of a car horn. Staples also uses hyperboles in this article. For example, “I reached the ripe old age of 22 (Staples)…” In the section of the article, Staples exaggerates how elderly the age of 22 actually
America have a long history of black’s relationship with their fellow white citizens, there’s two authors that dedicated their whole life, fighting for equality for blacks in America. – Audre Lorde and Brent Staples. They both devoted their professional careers outlying their opinions, on how to reduce the hatred towards blacks and other colored. From their contributions they left a huge impression on many academic studies and Americans about the lack of awareness, on race issues that are towards African-American. There’s been countless, of critical evidence that these two prolific writers will always be synonymous to writing great academic papers, after reading and learning about their life experience, from their memoirs.
Ethnic group is a settled mannerism for many people during their lives. Both Zora Neale Hurston, author of “How It Feels to Be Colored Me; and Brent Staples, author of “Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space,” realize that their life will be influenced when they are black; however, they take it in pace and don’t reside on it. They grew up in different places which make their form differently; however, in the end, It does not matter to them as they both find ways to match the different sexes and still have productivity in their lives.. Hurston was raised in Eatonville, Florida, a quiet black town with only white passer-by from time-to-time, while Staples grew up in Chester, Pennsylvania, surrounded by gang activity from the beginning. Both Hurston and Staples share similar and contrasting views about the effect of the color of their
us today? The answer could be a result of either laziness by the people in our
Racism is more than just blatant comments and police brutality. It is also found in the subtle things, like the lack of opportunities in education. Graduation by Maya Angelou and I Just Wanna Be Average by Mike Rose both address this issue of opportunities and race. In St. Louis, Missouri, Maya Angelou went to an all-black school during the 1930s and 40s, while Mike Rose is a second generation Italian immigrant in Los Angeles in the 1950s. Both wrote about their experiences with systemic racism in education. Both authors are given low expectations and have no power over their futures, which shows how systemic racism sets up a self-fulfilling prophecy of underachievement.
The civil rights movement may have technically ended in the nineteen sixties, but America is still feeling the adverse effects of this dark time in history today. African Americans were the group of people most affected by the Civil Rights Act and continue to be today. Great pain and suffering, though, usually amounts to great literature. This period in American history was no exception. Langston Hughes was a prolific writer before, during, and after the Civil Rights Act and produced many classic poems for African American literature. Hughes uses theme, point of view, and historical context in his poems “I, Too” and “Theme for English B” to expand the views on African American culture to his audience members.
2) McKay does not mention his heritage in “America” or his background because it is unnecessary. Anyone who has experienced America can relate to McKay’s poem. He seems as though he may have a better interpretation, because he has experienced other cultures.
Racism and the sense to fulfill a dream has been around throughout history. Langston Hughes’s poems “Harlem” and “I, Too” both depict the denial of ethnicity mix in society and its impact on an African American’s dream. James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” uses jazz music to tie the belief of one’s intention and attainment to the black race. The two main characters are different in a way of one fitting into the norm of the American Dream and the other straying away from such to fulfill his own dream. All three pieces of writing occur during the same time in history in which they connect the black race with the rejection of the American Dream and the opportunity to obtain an individual effort by a culture.
Raya’s essay is an informative account of life for a multicultural American, because it is told from an actual multicultural author’s viewpoint. It gives the reader a sense that the information is accurate. It would be harder to accept the viewpoint if the author were for example, a white male writing about how a Mexican, Puerto Rican woman feels. As Connie Young Yu points out, information retold by someone who didn’t live the experiences is most often falsely perceived. Yu uses the example of white American historians writing about the lives of Chinese immigrants. Yu says that there is no accurate account for the lives of the immigrants, because they didn’t document their lives themselves. The little information that there is in history books only tells about their obvious accomplishments. There is no official understanding of their personal lives or feelings (Yu 30).
This poem is written from the perspective of an African-American from a foreign country, who has come to America for the promise of equality, only to find out that at this time equality for blacks does not exist. It is written for fellow black men, in an effort to make them understand that the American dream is not something to abandon hope in, but something to fight for. The struggle of putting up with the racist mistreatment is evident even in the first four lines:
They way people think of other races and skin tones has been around for centuries. " I hear America Singing" by Whit Whitman is written about how great America is and the people that work it make it what it is. Whitman gives people the thought that nothing is wrong and that wasn’t true but for them it was. " I Too" by Langston Hughes is written by a slave. He is nothing like what is written by Whitman. He writes about the bad side of America but he knows that one day the America that Whitman writes about is the is the one he will live
There were many aspects in which African Americans were treated with great discord in the United States, pre-civil rights. One of the most common being derogatory names that were used. The writings “What’s in a name?” by Henry Louis Gates Jr. and “Finishing School” by Maya Angelou show how impactful the usage of one’s name or lack thereof is. Similarly, the stories themes are built around the treatment and names used to berate African Americans however; the settings and characters show some striking similarities and differences.
Langston Hughes's stories deal conditions of befalling African Americans during one of our history’s most oppressed times and promoting the African American culture. As Jeff Westover explains in “Langston Hughes 1902-1967: Africa/America” in one detail, “America's political self-definitions provide the poet with the basis for challenging the status quo and demanding change from the government that supports it”. Hughes's stories speak of the African-Americans as being overlooked by a biased society. Hughes's poetry “attempts to draw attention to the catastrophic history of black people in Africa and the United States. Challenging racism and oppression by bringing to the foreground narratives of humiliation and violence against their people” according to Mothe Subhash in “Violation of Human Rights of the Negro's in the Poems of Langston Hughes”. The theme of powerlessness leads to passion that is shown in Hughes work like in “I, Too”, “Theme for English B” and “Dream Deferred” challenging racism at its core.