Behind the voices: Agency in the racial divide of today’s America
In “The Third Man”, Richard Rodriguez explores the importance which Americans attribute to race and its influence on the conception of their identity. Since it is on the basis of race that many communities distinguish and distance themselves from all others, he advocates for the end of America’s emphasis on racial categories by dismantling this very notion: that race is a binary between “blacks” and “whites”. One of the tactics he pursues to achieve this aim is to question African American’s use of the label “black” as a term of self-identification (Rodriguez, 136; 141). Instead, he makes the claim that “most Black Americans are not black” (134), but “brown”, and invites …show more content…
As opposed to using a character to voice the “white” perspective, he prefers to use a lyrical narrative style which further matches his description of whites’ alleged purity: “White is an impulse to remain innocent of history…For many generations, the American paint box was predicated upon an unsullied white… for the first white Americans imagined themselves innocent.” (139). If the reader has been taking Rodriguez’s claims literally, he might be persuaded into believing that “whites” are indeed innocent, since the above statement is consistent with the author’s assertion that “blacks” like Darrell are maintaining the racial divide. Nevertheless, a more critical reader might find that this characterization is at odds with the author’s earlier depiction of “whites”, especially as he addresses America’s racial history in page 134. In said section, Rodriguez is unafraid to assert that racial segmentation was born in whites’ insistence to uphold notions such as the “one-drop theory”, which determined that anyone and everyone within a spectrum of color would be labeled “black” (134 ). By this point, readers might be confused by Rodriguez’s seemingly contradictory descriptions on the matter of “white innocence”. Knowing this, a conscientious reader can make better sense of Rodriguez’s poetic account of “white innocence” if he interprets it to be a stylistic device whose goal is to underscore the cynicism behind the author’s …show more content…
Had Rodriguez chosen to present a “white” character, it would have probably composed a speech which unsuccessfully tries to prove his own innocence. Another possibility would have been to present a “white cop” that outright accepts the responsibility of this discrimination, but argues for the validity of his preconceptions. None of these alternatives seem realistic or constructive towards Rodriguez’s argument. Instead, what might be more common to find is that “whites” remain uncomfortable to speak about their influence on today’s racial divide, because they themselves find their position to be incongruent. Whereas, on the one hand, they claim to praise individuality and freedom of identity (130), they also maintain a legacy of discrimination which hinders individuals such as Darrell from labeling themselves as anything but “black”. Through their silence, it is not clear to the reader whether “whites” are aware of the extent of their influence in America’s racial divide, but it is clear that they are unwilling to talk about this
In “The Third Man”, Richard Rodriguez explores the importance which Americans attribute to race and its influence on the conception of their identity. Since it is on the basis of race that many communities distinguish and distance themselves from all others, he advocates for the end of America’s emphasis on racial categories by dismantling this very notion: that race is a binary between “blacks” and “whites”. One of the tactics he pursues to achieve this aim is to question African American’s use of the label “black” as a term of self-identification (Rodriguez, 136; 141). Instead, he makes the claim that “most Black Americans are not black” (134), but “brown”, and invites …show more content…
As opposed to using a character to voice the “white” perspective, he prefers to use a lyrical narrative style which further matches his description of whites’ alleged purity: “White is an impulse to remain innocent of history…For many generations, the American paint box was predicated upon an unsullied white… for the first white Americans imagined themselves innocent.” (139). If the reader has been taking Rodriguez’s claims literally, he might be persuaded into believing that “whites” are indeed innocent, since the above statement is consistent with the author’s assertion that “blacks” like Darrell are maintaining the racial divide. Nevertheless, a more critical reader might find that this characterization is at odds with the author’s earlier depiction of “whites”, especially as he addresses America’s racial history in page 134. In said section, Rodriguez is unafraid to assert that racial segmentation was born in whites’ insistence to uphold notions such as the “one-drop theory”, which determined that anyone and everyone within a spectrum of color would be labeled “black” (134 ). By this point, readers might be confused by Rodriguez’s seemingly contradictory descriptions on the matter of “white innocence”. Knowing this, a conscientious reader can make better sense of Rodriguez’s poetic account of “white innocence” if he interprets it to be a stylistic device whose goal is to underscore the cynicism behind the author’s …show more content…
Had Rodriguez chosen to present a “white” character, it would have probably composed a speech which unsuccessfully tries to prove his own innocence. Another possibility would have been to present a “white cop” that outright accepts the responsibility of this discrimination, but argues for the validity of his preconceptions. None of these alternatives seem realistic or constructive towards Rodriguez’s argument. Instead, what might be more common to find is that “whites” remain uncomfortable to speak about their influence on today’s racial divide, because they themselves find their position to be incongruent. Whereas, on the one hand, they claim to praise individuality and freedom of identity (130), they also maintain a legacy of discrimination which hinders individuals such as Darrell from labeling themselves as anything but “black”. Through their silence, it is not clear to the reader whether “whites” are aware of the extent of their influence in America’s racial divide, but it is clear that they are unwilling to talk about this