The reader feels slightly embarrassed after this encounter and also wonders how someone can ignore an entire person. Rankine presents the answer to the latter question in the grand theme of her work: racial discrimination. Finally, Rankine closes this section of her book by altering the reader’s perception of themselves in the narrative of racial discrimination. Perhaps the most poignant line in this section is “Appetite won’t attach you to anything no matter how depleted you feel.…
In Citizen By Claudia Rankine, Rankine exposes the nature of oppression and racism that many individuals of color face on a daily basis. Rankine emphasises both “macro” and “micro-aggressions”, implying that racism can manifest in both direct and subtle ways. Throughout the book, Rankine analyses specific events poetically, using figurative and rich language to dwell deeper into the experience of what it is like to be racially oppressed in a predominately “white background”. Throughout the book, I was particularly intrigued by Rankine's use of the second person present, which is often reserved for works of fiction.…
Throughout his passage, “Just Walk on By”, Brent Staples sends the message that discrimination has affected the lives of many in several negative ways. He particularly uses irony and satire as tools to prove his point, using them almost like a verbal blade to cut through public image and stereotypes, as well as his proficient use of powerful diction and syntax to strike rememberable points into the reader’s mind. Staple’s use of irony is very simple yet effective. His message is that he is not a stereotypical black criminal, so he portrays himself as one to show how ridiculous that it really is. When he says “My first victim was a woman”, he tries to conjure up images of a stalker or a murderer or even just a plain old mugger, which is what…
In “Just Walk on By” by Brent Staples, the author describes the discrimination that he has faced throughout his whole life through his persona and his emotional appeal. His use of metaphors, imagery, and diction help the reader paint the image of what racism he faced and what others faced while growing up. Staples uses emotion, such as angry diction and personal conflicts, that help show his message in his essay. Staples describes a memory of his past saying,” a teenage cousin, a brother of twenty-two, a childhood friend… all gone down in episodes of bravado played out in the streets” (Staples 543).…
“I am invisible, understand because people refuse to see me” (Ellison 3). An untouchable protagonist finds himself stuck in the shadows of the ever looming times of Jim Crow in Ralph Ellison’s book Invisible Man (1952). He does so through a sense of philosophically concise rhetoric. He acknowledges his invisibility as a byproduct of other’s choices and not his outward appearance nor his place within the futile caste system distraught by the Great Migration. Throughout Invisible Man, the nameless protagonist returns to this topic of invisibility through stories and angles of other characters, searching for his own unique identity which the reader may never fully comprehend.…
Racial profiling is all too commonplace in modern society, and even in formal literature. Examples of such profiling are two poems, both entitled Incident, written by Countee Cullen and Natasha Trethewey respectively. In these poems a very tangible message of the difficulties faced by different races, is presented to the reader. Using the literary topic lens of values, we can dissect these pieces and find the similarities between them. Such similarities include the social stigma of being different in society, the emotional toll these differences inflict, and the eventual results of these differences.…
The novel The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison tells the story of Pecola Breedlove, a young African American girl in Ohio who faces great adversity as a result of her race, gender, and age. She wants nothing more than to have blue eyes, believing that they would make her beautiful and improve her quality of life. She lives in a small house with her mother, Pauline, her father, Cholly, and her brother, Sammy. In an excerpt titled “Battle Royal” from Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, the narrator faces similar adversity as a result of his race. He is forced to fight in a Battle Royal against other African American men for the entertainment of a large group of white men after being invited to the event to give his graduation speech.…
This week’s readings and lecture materials discuses about the lack of representation of people of color or race in children’s literature. It reinforces the lack of diversity in children’s literature. It is really disheartening that children’s literature is not reflecting the multicultural and diverse society. It is also sad that 37% of the population of the United States is made up of people of color, yet these category of population are only featured in 10% of children’s literature books. Representation of diverse population in children’s books serves as a very valuable tool for children as they learn more about themselves and other experiences of others as well.…
In Richard Wright’s The Library Card, the author vividly describes his quotidian life as an African-American living in the segregated south of the early- to mid- 20th century. Widely considered an autobiographical account, Wright’s short story touches on key details of his everyday life that separated his from the life of many whites. By holding such a unique perspective of the period’s culture, Wright, as the story’s narrator, is able to liberate himself from the confines put in place by the period’s unjust practices against African-Americans. Carefully describing and recanting life experiences where he was degraded or belittled on the account of his skin tone, Wright paints a vivid picture of the social constructs faced preventing any sort…
Specifically, everything a black person says or does in this setting is automatically correlated with race, and the historical role of African Americans in society. The author uses Hennessy Youngman’s quote “…a nigger paints a flower it becomes a slavery flower” to explicitly state that black people cannot act or express themselves without having a…
The text urges readers to look deeper into an individual and confront the unknown. This book has great significance and relevance, especially in the trying times that we are now experiencing with race relations in our country. This book is a must…
Literature is commonly viewed as a way of expressing oneself. Race is an indispensable part of a person’s identity, and therefore an aspect of a person that can manifest itself in literature. Terrance Hayes uses the concept of race in “We Should Make a Documentary About Spades” to show the past oppression experienced by his ancestors and how there are ways to overcome the unjust treatment his past relatives were subject to; for example, through simple things such as a card game called Spades or the true notion of family. These simple things can indicate the proper character of our identity. Hayes’ makes something clear from the beginning that family is not restricted to your blood relatives, it is open to those that “[are] not your brother…
Author: Harper Lee Title: To Kill a Mockingbird Reading Level: 8-12 (790L) Sophistication Level: 11 To Kill a Mockingbird is an American literary classic, published in 1960. The story takes place between the years of 1933 through 1935, during the Great Depression era. It takes place in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama and tells the story of Scout Finch and her father Atticus, who is a widowed lawyer.…
“Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome.” ~Rosa Parks. The roots of racism have passed down through generations because parents force their children to follow racial traditions in order for them to continue those norms for future generations.…
Throughout life, there will always be obstacles standing in the way of your dreams. People will try to push you down, and prevent you from succeeding. Whenever you are facing struggles in life, remember to always look for the light in the darkness. Black Boy, written by Richard Wright, follows Richard through his life, as he tries to overcome the daily struggles of racism. As Richard grows up, he must face the difficulties of not only growing up, but growing up as a Black boy.…