What did Zora mean when she said that she was “not tragically colored”? Zora Neale Hurston was an anthropologist and folklorist who documented cultural history. How it Feels to be Colored me is a descriptive essay that outlines Zora’s journey to self discovery and self pride. Zora Hurston wrote during a time that racism was a prominent part of society and oppression was seemingly undaunting. Within the autobiographical essay “ How it Feels to be Colored me” , Zora was known as “everybody’s Zora” without ever being differentiated based on her pigmentation, thus she did not really know the real issues of racism until the age of 13; nonetheless, she began to view life differently where her race did not determine her success.
Zora grew up in Eatonville, one of the first all black colonization of the United States; therefore, she was guarded against the viciousness of racialistic repercussion. Eatonville was established after the creation of the Emancipation Proclamation, that liberated enslaved people held in geographical areas that were rebelling against the United States. …show more content…
While she resided in Eatonville she was “everybody’s Zora,” but when she migrated to Jacksonville her race was now visible, because the city was integrated. The environment and people would constantly remind Zora that she was colored; subsequently, altering her mentality. Hurston acknowledges moments when she felt the racial difference, and her encounter with a friend at the jazz club signified the division between the two races. Her thoughts, however, did not negatively sway her from attaining her goals. Zora Neale Hurston did not conform to society’s expectation of a negro. She surpassed the stereotypes by not engaging in self-pity, but took racial prejudice in stride, and emerged stronger from the hardship that she
Zora grew up in Eatonville, one of the first all black colonization of the United States; therefore, she was guarded against the viciousness of racialistic repercussion. Eatonville was established after the creation of the Emancipation Proclamation, that liberated enslaved people held in geographical areas that were rebelling against the United States. …show more content…
While she resided in Eatonville she was “everybody’s Zora,” but when she migrated to Jacksonville her race was now visible, because the city was integrated. The environment and people would constantly remind Zora that she was colored; subsequently, altering her mentality. Hurston acknowledges moments when she felt the racial difference, and her encounter with a friend at the jazz club signified the division between the two races. Her thoughts, however, did not negatively sway her from attaining her goals. Zora Neale Hurston did not conform to society’s expectation of a negro. She surpassed the stereotypes by not engaging in self-pity, but took racial prejudice in stride, and emerged stronger from the hardship that she