Instructor ENG 111 2 September 2014 Brent Staples' essay Black Men and Public Space, explores racism and its difficulties. Staples tells his experiences with racism and what growing up as a black male was like. Staples describes his hardships with racism in order to show how he overcame these incidents and become a better man. The intended audience could be anyone really, particularly people struggling with racism themselves. Staples suggest that people still tend to portray black men as violent and dangerous individuals from racial tendencies without rationalizing and thus causing stress to the victims (black men) because they’re seen as threats despite their true nature.
They would always ask the question” Who is my Mother?” They see it as black men are just number, because we will not think for we are educated ourselves as men. The number is when you are locked up and they call you by your last name and you have to give them a number for your identity. When will you learn our young men, When will you learn? The music gets them through the pain and heart ache they feel, when they are in the white man system. This is what it is.
The white community is unable to see past the Invisible Man’s skin color, nor are they able to see past the stereotypes of the black man. The white male characters that appear in the excerpt from "battle royal," are influential white males who do not fear anything, rather they are the ones who threaten the weaker races. They purposely torment the black males as a form of entertainment in hopes they would respond in acts of violence. The Battle Royal’s primary reason for being present at the battle of royal is to deliver his speech to the white citizens of his community, with the hope of gaining acceptance. He is forced into participating in the battle before he is permitted to speak.
At this time first-class citizenship was determined by at least three aspects political power, civil rights, and the higher education of blacks. Both men had two different ideas for achieving this goal. Washington was considered at this time to be the spokesman of the black race, by giving his famous “Atlanta Compromise” speech in front of predominantly white audience in the south in the his speech he focused on getting help from the whites and accepting their place as blacks on earth. however, W.E.B. Du Bois proposed a plan that set him right under, if not with, Washington.
Du bois wanted swift change following education. Though both Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois had similar goals, both men had different objectives and methods of reaching those goals. Booker T. Washington was more focused on achieving education for real jobs, and not asking for equality from among the white men, but instead Washington was focused on getting help from the white men while accepting blacks’ role in the society. Booker T. Washington wanted to show only the good of black people, and believed that blacks were fully capable for working for themselves.
By participating in the battle royal, the narrator learns that life is a struggle for survival; however, at this point he still believes in the philosophy that blacks can achieve success through education and hard work. The battle royal represents the enjoyment and empowerment gained by white society through keeping black men unknowledgeable and in a constant state of confusion. Forcing the black boys to fight against each other gratifies the white men's sense of superiority. The blindfolding of the fighters is another symbol of enslavement and repression. It serves as a way for the white men to keep the black fighters in a state of anxiety and uncertainty.
In the essay selection, Of Our Spiritual Strivings, W.E.B Dubois discusses what he feels to be the alienation of the African-American from white America. He speaks from a first person’s point of view of how he remembers the first time that he realized he was different from the other kids, in terms of his skin color. He opens with the story of how this occurs in his childhood and how it transforms his view on life and wanting to be the best so he could prove that he could accomplish as much as his white counterparts despite being black. He states, "I had thereafter no desire to tear down that veil, to creep though, I held all beyond it in common contempt and lived above it in a region of blue sky and great wandering shadows" (Dubois, page 292.) He not only describes a situation or circumstance but conveys to us his insight on how he suddenly became aware of his very existence and presence as a black person.
“No man knows what he can do until he tries”, this is a quote from a well-known African American author name Carter G. Woodson. He is known for many things, but mostly for his famous book “The Mis-Education of the Negro”. In this book he focuses on many things like how many African American people lack the knowledge of having education. Since day one Woodson was interested in learning new things, which explains why he was the second African American to graduate from Harvard University. His education meant a lot to him, so he put in lots of time writing books and learning to help others see the importance of it.
Malcolm X began reading many different books which causes his religious views to flourish during his time in prison. Malcolm X believed in Black Nationalism and taught the idea that African American’s were the superior race above all others. Believing they were the first race in existence; African Americans were stolen and brought to America and had to adopt the culture and were enslaved. He also taught that white people were the devil and they would eventually destroy themselves. Malcolm X wanted all African Americans to live in a separate place from other races.
Happy has lived in the shadow of Biff his whole life, he feels that to get the attention he deserves he must strive to be more successful than his brother. When Willy was talking about Biff, Happy kept hinting that he was losing weight, but Willy seems to ignore him. “He is a marked-down version of his father, with not even a grand dream to cover his grossness. His only redeeming aspect is an easy-going fondness for his family” (Koon pg.37). Happy shows