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.
As his character develops in the novel, he comes across as calm, empathetic and nonjudgmental. He also is one of the few who can see things from another’s point of view. In the 1930s in America, racism was a big issue based on discrimination against black people. Most white people, in the novel discriminate against the black people because they fail to see life from their point of view. As the reader begins to see the unfairness of the actions against black people, mostly because of Atticus’ speech, the theme of discrimination is developed through the motive of ‘walking around in their shoes.’ The title, To Kill A Mockingbird is very symbolic and meaningful.
The Great Depression was in full swing and money was hard to come by. In his book, ‘Of Mice and Men’, John Protested against the treatment of disabled and of racial minorities which was very present at that time. One of the characters, called Crooks, is black. In the 1930’s this was a very bad thing to be as black citizens were considered second class and were treated as such. If there was an argument between a black person and a white person, the white person was right.
Dubois's philosophy not only shows nihilism in the black race during this era but it also shows the same lack of progression in the black community in 2011. It reminds us of the lack of harmonious solidarity as well as the lack of intellect, high morals and spiritual insight affecting the Black masses today. His piece brings up an array of valid points on why the black community is its own worst enemy when it comes to building a new infrastructure of educational, historical and financial knowledge of self like the Jewish, Asian and Indian cultures. Dubois says “It is the problem of developing the best of this race that they may guide the mass away from the contamination and death of the worst, in their own and other races. Now the training of men is a difficult and intricate task.”(Dubois 1) I personally think that the contamination of most blacks today is from out dated teachings, some churches, politicians and most importantly, the entertainment business.
Acquiring this information has helped me identify the flaws of the American viewpoint on the black community, some of which are still seen today, nearly a century after Hughes first started writing. As a reader, I can identify the various strategies utilized by Hughes and am able to better understand the magnitude of Hughes’ themes about the black culture. Hughes was assailed for his writing on the black community. The lower class community refuted his works, claiming he was stereotypical about his subject matter and disregarded his own heritage and background. More importantly, during the period Hughes’ work was published, we can assume that middle class whites in America and Europe were reading most of his work rather than the stereotype blacks he wrote about.
Though the overall mood of the poem is of fear for her unborn child and resignation to the way the world is. The Harlem Renaissance was a time of cultural expression, but also a time of fear and malcontent. Black men were disrespected and mistreated and children were seeing this as a part of everyday life. Women were afraid for their children and the use of villainizing the police and white men was prevalent in the period. The frustrations of the black woman in a man’s world are seen in the piece that isn’t seen in other pieces done by the men of this period so that it gives you insight into the might of the black woman then.
In Harper Lee’s compellingly poignant novel, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ we witness various forms of racism and injustice. As the protagonist, Scout exposes the bigotry present in Maycomb County and what the characters endured because of it, particularly the African Americans. We also observe the discrimination that certain characters, such as Atticus Finch and Mr. Dolphus endure because of the racial stereotypes who couldn’t comprehend their belief for justice for all. Racism in Maycomb was the norm. Most of the people of Maycomb were unjust and ignorant when it came to the most basic rights of the African Americans.
Do We Owe Our Native Country In the novel Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom the Crafts painted a startling picture of the atrocities that Americans have committed on blacks and how much trouble slaves are willing to endure for freedom. However, I feel that the Crafts included a bit of bias against America for no reason other than to appeal to the English people and sell more books. Although the Crafts did add some anti American propaganda to their novel, they did not hate their home country and in some ways felt that they owed it. One could argue that the Crafts felt a certain loyalty to their home country, or even that they owed it, despite all the wrong it had done to them. Now this question still remains, do we owe anything to our native country?
Relax, sit back and gasp as I display the rich tapestries of black ghetto. Social Factors As Reflected in classical mythology society is complicated. When blues legend 'Bare Foot D' remarked 'awooooh eeee only my dawg understands me' [1] he created a monster which society has been attempting to tame ever since. Much has been said about the influence of the media on black ghetto. Observers claim it cleary plays a significant role amongst the developing middle classes.
US History II “Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass” “Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass” is an in depth description of the life of a slave, written by Frederick Douglass himself. Douglass uses his experience as a slave to explain how unnatural it is. He establishes that slavery degrades human beings to the level of livestock, and changes people’s attitudes and sense of morality. People were traded or sold when no longer of use, and beaten or whipped as punishment. In addition, punishment for killing a slave was often times not enforced, due to the supposed lack of severity of the act.