Every day thousands of people have to put up with racism from others. Whether that is from stereotypes or just plain ignorance, it is something that can affect the victim greatly. It’s very hard to forget hurtful, and disrespectful comments from people, especially when they don’t understand how much of an impact it has. In the book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Margaret was surrounded by a lot of racism throughout her life. The book shows race and racism to show how much of a problem it was, and how it impacted Margaret. The book engages race by telling of the many challenges and stereotypes that Margaret and her family had to overcome. One example from the book that shows one challenge the family faced is when Margaret asked her uncle
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One example of a positive way that race was presented was when Maya pointed out her mother’s beauty, and that although she was colored, she still considered her to be beautiful. She always fantasized about having her beauty and confidence, which was a nice thing for her to point out about her black mother. Race also was a big lesson for Margaret to learn, because she figured out that she was different from the other people in her community. She thought this was a bad thing at the time but looking back now, she’s probably grateful for that. It also taught her that just because someone is rude to you because of the color of your skin, doesn’t mean you have to stoop down to their level and insult them back. These lessons I’m sure helped her to grow up, and mature a little more, since she was so naive. In this book I believe that race is a very big deal, and important to the overall plot.
Without race being a factor in this text, Margaret wouldn’t have learned the things she did. Her experiences with everyone around her would have been extremely different. She wouldn’t have been so self conscious about her skin tone and she probably wouldn’t have gone through the hardships she did. Race being a big component also made the book more relatable to the audience because that is something you are made aware of at a young
One example of a positive way that race was presented was when Maya pointed out her mother’s beauty, and that although she was colored, she still considered her to be beautiful. She always fantasized about having her beauty and confidence, which was a nice thing for her to point out about her black mother. Race also was a big lesson for Margaret to learn, because she figured out that she was different from the other people in her community. She thought this was a bad thing at the time but looking back now, she’s probably grateful for that. It also taught her that just because someone is rude to you because of the color of your skin, doesn’t mean you have to stoop down to their level and insult them back. These lessons I’m sure helped her to grow up, and mature a little more, since she was so naive. In this book I believe that race is a very big deal, and important to the overall plot.
Without race being a factor in this text, Margaret wouldn’t have learned the things she did. Her experiences with everyone around her would have been extremely different. She wouldn’t have been so self conscious about her skin tone and she probably wouldn’t have gone through the hardships she did. Race being a big component also made the book more relatable to the audience because that is something you are made aware of at a young