Race is a concept that is commonly regarded as definitive, unmissable, and, most importantly, unchangeable. Society in the Jim Crow era drew a line through laws and social norms and was perceived to be untraversable. However, the line may have been drawn but many crossed it, as it lacked rigidity and was impossible to enforce. Although many people thought the categories for race during this era were clearly divided, they weren’t as mixed racial people had equal claims to both sides. The fact that mixed racial people existed to begin with completely invalidated the claims of strictly divided racial heritages. In Allyson Hobbs book, A Chosen Exile: A History of Racial Passing in American Life, she defies this concept of race to side with the …show more content…
Irene, who is able to pass, seems to take advantage of the ignorance of others by passing to fulfill small conveniences. However, she also regards herself as holding a moral superiority over those who pass more frequently or for a lifestyle, which contradicts her actions. Passing is complex and many people use it to escape a tragic life or to gain opportunities, but by passing, many people’s lives are worsened due to leaving family and friends behind. Looking at this phenomenon with the definition of race provided by Hobbs gives a more thorough insight as to how a more loosely and socially constructed view of race shapes the life of …show more content…
When Irene is with Clare, her husband Jack Bellew, and Gertrude, she witnesses Jack call Clare “Nig” and state that he wants “no niggers in his family” (Larsen 40). He also states that Clare can “get as black as [she] please” because he knows she is “no nigger” (Larsen 40), showing that it isn’t the color of the skin he hates, it is the actual personal characteristics of African Americans he doesn’t like, and he clings to his own stereotypes of them. Irene is very offended by these comments as her “lips trembled almost uncontrollably” and “a faint sense of danger touched her” (Larsen 40), but she does nothing and stays quiet. Irene attempts to “excuse her cowardice by claiming to have acted out of loyalty to race and to Clare as a member of the race” (Wall 108) however it is clear it’s because of her own ignorance. Irene gets sucked into the white world and becomes fascinated by Jack. She even states that “under other conditions, she might have liked [Jack],” because he is “a fairly good-looking man of amiable disposition” (Larsen 42). Irene doesn’t not choose to speak out against Jack because of her love for Clare or her want to protect her from her racist husband, she chooses not to speak out because of her loss of morals and sense of self in this moment. Irene has ties to both the white side and the black side of her heritage, and this moment has little to do with
According to Crummell, all the race-problems of this land can be solved with the Christian notion of ‘universal brotherhood’ where “love and peace prevail among men.” He sets up his argument by looking at the history of race laws to see if there is a starting point for us to begin to determine the best way to handle residences of various races in a single region. This leads him into a discussion of the different types of racial intermingling; amalgamation, the wilful blending of races, expulsion from the region, absorption into a different people, extinction, or an existence separate and distinct from its neighboring races. From this lense he then asks, has a new race formed in the United States? For Crummell that answer is no. Because of the forceful nature of the origins of the mixed race in the south, amalgamation is not an appropriate answer. Many interracial individuals are products of rape. He discusses how the forced “victimization of helpless black women” and this “gross and violent intermingling of the blood of the southern white cannot be taken as an index of the future of the black race.” He concludes this by discussing race as a family, of “divine origin”, and the elimination of race as impossible. After ruling out the previous methods of handling race relations, he holds that the “race problem is a moral one,” “fought with weapons of
Making Whiteness: the culture of segregation in the south, 1890-1940 is the work of Grace Elizabeth Hale. In her work, she explains the culture of the time between 1890 and 1940. In her book she unravels how the creation of the ‘whiteness’ of white Southerners created the ‘blackness’ identity of southern African Americans. At first read it is difficult to comprehend her use of the term ‘whiteness’, but upon completion of reading her work, notes included, makes sense. She states that racial identities today have been shaped by segregation, “...the Civil War not only freed the slaves, it freed American racism
Woodward argues that the Jim Crow laws of the 1890s were a new concept of separating the two races. Throughout slavery and during the reconstruction period, the two races were fully integrated working on economics and political problems; the separation of the two races would lead to an insufficient and ineffective plantation. “The typical dwelling of a slave-owning family was a walled compound shared by both master and slave families.
The book, the Strange Career of Jim Crow is a wonderful piece of history. C. Vann Woodard crafts a book that explains the history of Jim Crow and segregation in simple terms. It is a book that presents more than just the facts and figures, it presents a clear and a very accurate portrayal of the rise and fall of Jim Crow and segregation. The book has become one of the most influential of its time earning the praise of great figures in Twentieth Century American History. It is a book that holds up to its weighty praise of being “the historical Bible of the civil rights movement.” The book is present in a light that is free from petty bias and that is shaped by a clear point of view that considers all facts equally. It is a book that will remain one of the best explanations of this time period.
...mean to belittle the lasting legacy of racism, but given these examples of 'Other,' beyond the black/white dichotomy, that still hold lasting legacies, perhaps race is simply another form of identity creation that has had long lasting consequences. I believe these comments would be accepted by the author read this week with the caveat that there are never really “two sides of a coin,” but multiple three dimensional sides. It is however, the construction of dichotomies like these that Hodes would argue holds the power within the descriptions.
In the novel, Passing, Nella Larsen presents two women, Clare and Irene who originate from the black community; however still yearn for an assured identity for themselves. Clare and Irene are childhood friends who even though being part black, are able to pass as white folk. Irene continues to be part of the black community and is considered a black woman, however this is on a superficial level. When it comes to her advantage, Irene occasionally passes as white. Clare on the other hand passes as a white woman; her lifestyle changed completely as to white standards and in. Although both women are in a dilemma regarding their true racial identity, they both wish to live as both black and white. Throughout the book, both women attempt to achieve an integrated identity, however fail do to so. Their failure in attempting to live a life both as black suggests and supports the idea that a person can only have one race as either black or white, not both.
The Strange Career of Jim Crow, by C. Van Woodward, traces the history of race relations in the United States from the mid and late nineteenth century through the twentieth century. In doing so Woodward brings to light significant aspects of Reconstruction that remain unknown to many today. He argues that the races were not as separate many people believe until the Jim Crow laws. To set up such an argument, Woodward first outlines the relationship between Southern and Northern whites, and African Americans during the nineteenth century. He then breaks down the details of the injustice brought about by the Jim Crow laws, and outlines the transformation in American society from discrimination to Civil Rights. Woodward’s argument is very persuasive because he uses specific evidence to support his opinions and to connect his ideas. Considering the time period in which the book and its editions were written, it should be praised for its insight into and analysis of the most important social issue in American history.
In the first section of the first chapter of “The New Jim Crow”, Michelle Alexander talks about how “...racism is highly adaptable...” (Alexander 21) and how forms of it has been constantly repeating throughout history. She then goes on to say, “...similar political dynamics have produced another caste system in the years following the collapse of the Jim Crow-one that exists today.” (Alexander 21). The Emancipation Proclamation didn’t really accomplish much, so in an effort to make a change, the Civil War took place. After the Civil War, the Jim Crow laws emerged to restrict people of color. Accordingly, the valiant efforts to abolish slavery and get rid of the Jim Crow laws changed American society. After the collapse
..., as an outsider, you can conclude why an individual has chosen to “pass.” With that being said, The Ex-Colored Man’s preference to “pass” was done in effort to place him in a safe living environment open to opportunity and enjoy the adventures it awards the “passer” with. Brooke Kroeger affirms that many people “have passed: for opportunity, safety, adventure, or some combination of the three,” which Johnson illustrates in the life of The Ex-Colored Man (Kroeger 7). It is captivating to question whether or not the reasons The Ex-Colored Man’s opted “pass” could have been attained in his life as a biracial mulatto or black male.
What has changed since the collapse of Jim Crow has less to do with the basic structure of our society than with the language we use to justify it. In the era of colorblindness, it is no longer socially permissible to use race, explicitly, as a justification for discrimination, exclusion, and social contempt. So we don’t. Rather than directly rely on race, we use the criminal justi...
Lasting hatred from the civil war, and anger towards minorities because they took jobs in the north probably set the foundation for these laws, but it has become difficult to prove. In this essay, I will explain how the Separate but Equal Laws of twentieth century America crippled minorities of that time period forever. Separate but Equal doctrine existed long before the Supreme Court accepted it into law, and on multiple occasions it arose as an issue before then. In 1865, southern states passed laws called “Black Codes,” which created restrictions on the freed African Americans in the South. This became the start of legal segregation as juries couldn’t have African Americans, public schools became segregated, and African Americans had restrictions on testifying against majorities.
...s appealing it is not without consequence. Clare, and those who choose to pass, are not free to embrace their whole identity and will always remain a threat to those they come in contact. Clare exemplified the archetypal character of the tragic mulatto, as she bought tragedy to her own life and all those she came in contact. Clare’s presence forced Irene to contend with feelings of internalized racism, and thus feelings of inferiority. Through diction, tone, and imagery Larsen makes it luminous to readers that "passing" may seem glamorous, however, the sacrifice one makes to do so is not without consequences for themselves and those they care about. Larsen does not allow her readers to perch on the belief that once a member of the dominate group ones life is not without pain and suffering. Every action, even those that seem to make life easier, have consequences.
“Until justice is blind to color, until education is unaware of race, until opportunity is unconcerned with the color of men's skins, emancipation will be a proclamation but not a fact. ”(Lyndon Johnson). For generations in the United States, ethnic minorities have been discriminated against and denied fair opportunity and equal rights. In the beginning there was slavery, and thereafter came an era of racism which directly impacted millions of minorities lives. This period called Jim Crow was the name of the racial caste system up until the mid 1960s.
Race has been one of the most outstanding situations in the United States all the way from the 1500s up until now. The concept of race has been socially constructed in a way that is broad and difficult to understand. Social construction can be defined as the set of rules are determined by society’s urges and trends. The rules created by society play a huge role in racialization, as the U.S. creates laws to separate the English or whites from the nonwhites. Europeans, Indigenous People, and Africans were all racialized and victimized due to various reasons. Both the Europeans and Indigenous People were treated differently than African American slaves since they had slightly more freedom and rights, but in many ways they are also treated the same. The social construction of race between the Europeans, Indigenous People, and Africans led to the establishment of how one group is different from the other.
That is where we see that the state and government have enormous power when it comes to defining what race actually is. The state can fundamentally shape your social status within their means. They have all access to one’s economic opportunities, including employment, and they also can control your political rights. The government pretty much has control of how you look and define yourself, but more importantly the control how others will define you. The state controls medical and research facilities and can influence all that fall under these categories, creating things such as race based