Racism In Percival Everett's The Appropriation Of Culture

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In Percival Everett's short story “The Appropriation of Culture,” he tells the story of an African American man by the name of Daniel Barkley. Daniel is an unemployed gentleman that did not need to work because he has money and a house left to him from his mother after her passing. Daniel faces the challenge of everyday racism as he buys a truck that has a Confederate flag on it. Buying the flag brings intended attention to his reasoning for having the flag on his truck. Though the Confederate flag may have a racist history, Daniel Barkley makes the argument that African Americans can use such derogatory items to undermine their true meanings and remain calm in the face of racism. The story starts out with Daniel spending his nights playing …show more content…

The next encounter of racism for Daniel Barkley was his buying of an old pickup truck with a Confederate flag on it that he saw in the ads. He sets up an arrangement with the owner’s wife to stop by and take a look at the truck. As Daniel arrives to their house, a couple of neighboring people who are not specified watch his actions, but we can assume they are probably white due to the background of the story. When he approaches the door, a white man greets Daniel as if he has no purpose of being there by the man saying “What is it?” Once Daniel tells him he is there for the truck, Travis states surprisingly, “Oh you’re Dan?” This shows that the owner puts no thought into thinking Dan could possibly be a man of color. In this part of the story, Percival Everett vividly expresses what the feeling and atmosphere is like when Daniel arrives to take a look at the truck. Everett does not describe the white couple as downright surprised that Daniel is an African American; instead, Daniel silently approaches the door, and overhears the white man tell his wife, "I couldn't tell over the phone." Therefore, the white man can be assumed to be prejudice and exemplify racism towards African Americans because he is worried about the ethnicity of the individual who is purchasing the car, but specifically when we learn the truck embellishes a Confederate flag on it. However, when Travis tells Daniel that the Confederate flag decal can easily come off, Daniel tells him that he does not want the flag to come off and that he actually likes it. Weeks after the completed purchase of the truck, two white men confront Daniel at a gas station and asks his reasoning for keeping the flag on his truck. He tells them he is “Flying it proudly” as they do. The white men become more aggressive towards Daniel, but then a small group of black teenagers interfere by asking what was going on. Daniel tells the young teenagers, “They

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