To be Black means to be different. As a student of color and a woman I already have barriers stacked against me in life. Barriers that have been written about in literature I have read. Throughout the semester we came across multiple themes such as Justice, Identity, Trauma and other signifying themes. However these are not just themes but occurrences that happen to people in the United States and South Africa. Although both of these countries are far apart and have culture difference they share the societal evil of racism. Racism is defined as “the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races” (Google Dictionary).
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In South Africa was racism was grown by the developing corrupt government forcing Apartheid onto the people whereas in America racism occurs in social settings especially by the police enforcement. In Claudia Rankine’s novel Citizen: An American Lyric touches on the microagression, a form of racism where due to negative notions interaction with other racial groups is quite limited. “Ah! These English are really strange! They simply greet you and from then on, they pretend that you no longer exist” (Mpe 106). Refilwe and her friends, a group of different ethnic people feel they are invisible based on the reaction of their Oxford peers. This is similar to an event that occurs to an ethic woman in a poem by Claudia Rankine. A woman is about to pay for her things when a male, assembly White, skips her in the line to pay for something. “In line at the drugstore it’s finally your turn, and then it’s not as he walks in front of you and puts his things on the counter” (Rankine). This line is a structural ambiguous sentence where it can be read as two ways. It was finally this young woman’s turn when it is taken away from her when someone jumps in front of her on line. Another meaning is metaphorical, as she finally has an equal right for it to disappear with a snap of someone’s finger because they felt they were above her. However in this poem it is seem as that microagression is …show more content…
It is standing back from a situation and not getting involved no matter what side you are. So the question can we learn anything from the post-Apartheid moment in South Africa, come about and the answer is yes we can. We can take the literature that is written by people during those times to open the eyes of the public. It is easy to not see a situation if you turn your back on it. However if we were to teach the future generation the similar issues that two countries can have although they are from one another can create a whole new generation. Now in 2016, thanks to technology and social media racism is being brought to light faster, open and allowing society to form opinions of all the injustice. Books like Citizen: An American Lyric is a great novel to demonstrate all of the issues that are occurring right now in America. It places you within the shoes of a Black body and shows you the sides of injustice people try hard to ignore. The model of teaching is always available to counteract racism, teaching both sides of the stories that occurred over time can possible prevent a future where one can stop fearing taking a simple walk outside. If we don’t learn to prevent history repeating itself we can have a future like the one Donald Trump
In South Africa was racism was grown by the developing corrupt government forcing Apartheid onto the people whereas in America racism occurs in social settings especially by the police enforcement. In Claudia Rankine’s novel Citizen: An American Lyric touches on the microagression, a form of racism where due to negative notions interaction with other racial groups is quite limited. “Ah! These English are really strange! They simply greet you and from then on, they pretend that you no longer exist” (Mpe 106). Refilwe and her friends, a group of different ethnic people feel they are invisible based on the reaction of their Oxford peers. This is similar to an event that occurs to an ethic woman in a poem by Claudia Rankine. A woman is about to pay for her things when a male, assembly White, skips her in the line to pay for something. “In line at the drugstore it’s finally your turn, and then it’s not as he walks in front of you and puts his things on the counter” (Rankine). This line is a structural ambiguous sentence where it can be read as two ways. It was finally this young woman’s turn when it is taken away from her when someone jumps in front of her on line. Another meaning is metaphorical, as she finally has an equal right for it to disappear with a snap of someone’s finger because they felt they were above her. However in this poem it is seem as that microagression is …show more content…
It is standing back from a situation and not getting involved no matter what side you are. So the question can we learn anything from the post-Apartheid moment in South Africa, come about and the answer is yes we can. We can take the literature that is written by people during those times to open the eyes of the public. It is easy to not see a situation if you turn your back on it. However if we were to teach the future generation the similar issues that two countries can have although they are from one another can create a whole new generation. Now in 2016, thanks to technology and social media racism is being brought to light faster, open and allowing society to form opinions of all the injustice. Books like Citizen: An American Lyric is a great novel to demonstrate all of the issues that are occurring right now in America. It places you within the shoes of a Black body and shows you the sides of injustice people try hard to ignore. The model of teaching is always available to counteract racism, teaching both sides of the stories that occurred over time can possible prevent a future where one can stop fearing taking a simple walk outside. If we don’t learn to prevent history repeating itself we can have a future like the one Donald Trump