The topics of racism and judgement are often correlated together, because people judge others on their way of life or the color of their skin. People often are quick to judge someone without knowing the person closely. Brownies by ZZ Packer and The Kind of Light That Shines on Texas by Reginald McKnight are two short stories that have the same topic of racism and judgement. ZZ Packer and Reginald McKnight took the topics about racism in different directions and how judgment is the reasoning for it. As many people judge others on their race without knowing them. The similarities and differences between the two stories shows diverse ways people judge others just by noticing the color of their skin and how it can lead to misunderstandings.
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short story, Brownies by ZZ Packer, is set at a summer camp. The Brownies are a troop full of six African Americans girls from the inner city. The story is mainly about the Brownie troops hating Troop 909, which is mainly white girls, when they saw how they looked. The way ZZ packer told racism in Brownies, was that the main protagonist’s, Laurel, troop noticed that Troop 909 from afar and quickly judged them on how they smell and look. One of Laurel’s fellow troop also falsely accuses one of the white girl of calling her the n-word. Reginald McKnight’s The Kind of Light That Shines on Texas, is about an African American boy, named Clint, who attends predominantly white school, who experiences racism from his fellow classmate. How Reginald McKnight shows racism in The Kind of Light that Shines on Texas, is by the teacher making racial jokes and the classmates also being racist towards the only three African Americans in the class. The main protagonist, Clint, also hates the other two African Americans, mainly Marvin, because he shows negative stereotype of an African American. Both stories acknowledge racism but from different views, Brownies shows the racism most people think which one race is hating another. As for The Kind of Light that Shines on Texas, although it shows one race hating the other race, but it’s mainly about how the protagonist hates his own race, because of the other two in his class. Which most people don’t really see someone hating on their own race as often. In the Brownies, One of Laurel’s fellow troopers wanted to teach a “lesson” by beating the white troops up and placing bugs in the sleeping bags.
A secret meeting happened to do the plan, but they find out that Troop 909 are kids who are special needs and delayed learners. Once the Troops find out something they had no clue about, they felt bad about judging them. They can relate to their situation as they are always the ones to get judge so quickly by others. In, The Kind of Light that Shines on Texas, it wasn’t until the end that Clint realized his mistakes, as he looks to Ah-so and realizes she is beautiful, he sees that the color of her skin is perfect. As both stories show that the characters had judge people without realizing the wrong they had done. They fed into the racism without knowing the other person they were harming. They showed that you can relate to the other if you know the situation they are going …show more content…
through. As the story progresses in Brownies, Laurel is always referring back to things her father said.
How her father talked about a white family and how they “dressed in distinctive garb” and how they would work for free (Packer). Packer includes this family, because they’re monks who pray on their knees and didn’t ask for much. Laurel’s father was in shock about them and how they were working for an African American for free. Laurel realized that racism is something that go away. Packer makes Laurel come to the realization that it won’t go away, because of how society stereotypes people and how judgment is always going to be something people do. In, The Kind of Light that Shines on Texas, Clint get into a fight with his bully, Oakley, and wants him to call him the n-word, in a sense Clint wants to hear it so he can know his place. Before that Clint questions on why he picked him over Marvin. Clint was trying to say why don’t you fight someone in the same economic class as you. As Clint is getting punched, Marvin moves Clint over and punches Oakley, after that Marvin just stares at Clint. McKnight shows that Clint puts Marvin into a category with Oakley, he basically shows that Clint thinks he is better. He hates Marvin not only, because he is stereotyping African Americans. He also sees that he is poor and acts weird. McKnight made Clint realized he had become racist to his own kind and ate into the
racism. All in all, the way that both authors took the topic of racism was similar in the way they main the protagonist judge a person, before knowing them. The authors had racism that were different, one being the normal definition of racism most see. The other being racism on one’s own race, which most don’t really see, but still is a factor of racism. The protagonists had come to the realization of what they become, even thought they hate the idea of racism. Packer made Brownies, to show how someone else can influence another into feeding into racism. While Reginald, showed in The Kind of Light that Shines on Texas, how one can hate the idea of racism, yet still not realize that they are hating their own race. Judgement is something that not many realize that can be feed into you hating someone for how they look, live, or even how their skin color is. What the authors were both trying to do is bring a light on the topic of racism and how it takes a toll into society. They showed that no one is born racist, but they are taught it and how one can change their mind about how they see others.
Both stories, Response to Executive Order 9066 and "Mericans", establish a common American Identity theme. The main idea of these two stories is how people may or may not relate to their cultures. Both are narrated by teenage girls, and both establish a common theme that your appearance does not define you.
In his autobiographical essay, “Workers”, Richard Rodriguez tells about a summer in which he gets a job at a construction site in order to show that not all construction workers are poor and uneducated. Toward the conclusion of his essay, he explains that your skin color does not give people the right to judge others based on their skin color or their occupation selection. The speaker makes an obvious case people should not judge a book by its cover while also implying that skin tone should mean nothing.
...etely different in the stories, the feeling of isolation and detachment each of the characters had to cope with was remarkably similar. The stories demonstrate solid evidence that society needs to change the racist view they have towards minorities and their cultures. Reading these stories brings awareness to the reader, the importance of recognizing the need to be more accepting of others and their need to belong. The problems associated with these stories affect us all and as a society we collectively need to begin to change our attitudes towards minorities and their cultures.
Through the film “In the Heat of the Night” racial tensions are high, but one character, the Chief of Police, Gillespie overcomes racial discrimination to solve a murder. The attitudes that he portrays in the film help us understand the challenges in changing attitudes of Southern white town towards the African Americans living there.
We’ve all done it: walking down a hallway, judging someone or thinking someone is less than what we perceive ourselves to be based on the color of their skin or how they are dressed, or even their physical features. The author of The Language of Prejudice, Gordon Allport, shares how we live in a society where we are ridiculed for being less than a culture who labels themselves as dominant. This essay reveals the classifications made to the American morale. Allport analyzes in many ways how language can stimulate prejudice and the connection between language and prejudice.
In a country full of inequities and discrimination, numerous books were written to depict our unjust societies. One of the many books is an autobiography by Richard Wright. In Black Boy, Wright shares these many life-changing experiences he faced, which include the discovery of racism at a young age, the fights he put up against discrimination and hunger, and finally his decision to move Northward to a purported better society. Through these experiences, which eventually led him to success, Wright tells his readers the cause and effect of racism, and hunger. In a way, the novel The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle illustrates similar experiences.
Racism is not only a crime against humanity, but a daily burden that weighs down many shoulders. Racism has haunted America ever since the founding of the United States, and has eerily followed us to this very day. As an intimidating looking black man living in a country composed of mostly white people, Brent Staples is a classic victim of prejudice. The typical effect of racism on an African American man such as Staples, is a growing feeling of alienation and inferiority; the typical effect of racism on a white person is fear and a feeling of superiority. While Brent Staples could be seen as a victim of prejudice because of the discrimination he suffers, he claims that the victim and the perpetrator are both harmed in the vicious cycle that is racism. Staples employs his reader to recognize the value of his thesis through his stylistic use of anecdotes, repetition and the contrast of his characterization.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”-Martin Luther King Jr. This quote shows how racism is like darkness and hate and love and light are the only way to drive racism out. The story takes place at the time of the great depression. Scout lives in a very racist and judgement city in the south. A black male is accused of raping a white woman. Scouts dad Atticus gets appointed to be the defendant's lawyer. Racism is an antagonist in To Kill A Mockingbird because the white people of Maycomb discriminate the blacks and make them feel lesser. The theme racism can be harmful to everyone is shown by many characters throughout the book.
Prejudice was the theme of this story, there are many examples.For instance, an act of prejudice in West Side Story was the Puerto Ricans disliking the Americans and vice versa. The PR's diskliked the Americans because the first day, Bernardo (leader of PR gang) was jumped by one of the Jets. The Jets wouldn't let the PR's come on their turf, such as Doc's store. The PR's were not wanted in the U.S. and they were given a hard time.
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).
Institutionalized racism has been a major factor in how the United States operates today. This type of racism is found in many places, which include schools, courts of laws, job places and governmental organizations. Institutionalized racism affects many factors in the lives of African Americans, including the way they interact with white individuals. In the book “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere Stories” ZZ Packer uses her short stories to emphasize the how institutionalized racism plays in the lives of the characters in her stories. Almost all her characters experience the effects of institutionalized racism, and therefore change how they view their lives to adapt.
...ave brings them out of their protective and secluded shells. In both stories the theme of oppression, one mental the other physical, resulting in a victory, one internal the other external, prove that with determination and a belief in a higher power you can survive any situation.
In the end, both books explored the racism there was towards blacks and showed me no matter the race both share commonalities and I was also able to get some insight of a boy’s life growing up in the South. I was also able to identify some similarities and differences in Black Like Me and Black Boy. Besides showing the struggles faced both works showed some hope for a better future.
The struggles both characters face demonstrate character development and contribute to the themes of the stories. Both short stories prove to be literally effective in that they disclose the main themes at the outset of each story. Although the themes may alter over the course of the stories, they are clearly defined in their respective introductions.
Racism is based on the belief that one’s culture is superior to that of others, and this racial superiority provides justification for discrimination. Racism begins with categorising by race, and therefore stereotyping particular cultures. A simple definition of prejudice given by St Thomas Aquinas states prejudice as “thinking ill of others without sufficient cause” (1. pg 21). Racism is a major issue in today’s society, affecting a large number of the world’s population and causing political and social turmoil. To evaluate the true meaning, effects and views concerning racism in today’s world, a number of literature sources were researched including novel, films, short stories, poetry, song lyrics, textbooks and magazine articles.