Prejudice and racism have changed the way that our country views it’s own citizens, the United States being the country that prides itself on freedom and rights to all the people that live in it. Blacks in America, especially, have been targeted and treated unfairly since slavery and up until the Civil Rights Movement, when blacks stood up for their rights and took a stand against the injustices. In The Color of Water, the racist views of the country made the McBride family feel the need to change. James McBride didn’t feel comfortable in his own skin. He didn’t feel that he belonged with either blacks or whites; he was lost someplace in the middle. McBride tried to find a way to fit in somehow, but because of America’s racial views this made his search for his identity all the more difficult. McBride then finally just decided to place himself with the black people in the end, because he believed he would fit in better there. James McBride’s difficulty knowing his identity was a result from America’s narrowed minded prejudiced views that made him have difficulty conforming in society. Another example of racism shaping America is in Black Men in Public Spaces. The racist views of Amercan citizen’s caused them to automatically stereotype any black person as being a criminal, or a person to watch out for. The cruel and wrong views that many American’s shared led to a racist shape to the United States of America, where “All men are created equal”. The Declaration of Independence seemed to leave out everyone except the white man.
The past is a crucial aspect of anyone’s life. The past holds the key to understanding a person’s identity. But the past can be an aspect of life that dampers on someone’s own ability to live their life freely. In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, the main character, Lily Owens is struggling with the past involving her mother’s death. For her whole life, she’s been wondering who her mother is and why she left Lily as a child to begin with. When August Boatwright finally tells Lily about her mother, Lily eventually makes a little bit of peace. The past can’t be held on forever, when Lily finally found out the truth about her mother’s death, it was time to let all the angry emotions she had go. A dark past does nothing but hurt a person’s potential for great accomplishments. Once the truth is known, let the past go. The past is the past, no matter how bad it was, the future is new. If a positive new front is put in, good things can happen.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Embracing Who You Are
In The Color of Water by James McBride and How It Feels To Be Colored Me by Zora Neale Hurston both deal with black individuals that want to embrace their race and not let the narrow minds of most people in the world get in their way. Hurston although, was a strong minded individual that embraced her identity and claimed that she's not "Tragically colored" (Hurston 1187). She didn't fall into the trap of prejudice surrounding her race and was proud of herself for her academic achievements. Hurston knew her identity, in The Color of Water, McBride doesn't have a strong basis of his identity. McBride is confused not knowing if he's black or white, and doesn't feel accepted in either race. Not having the acceptance from generally no one, left McBride him unsure of his own identity. Throughout the text, he continually mentions his mother and how he doesn't accept the fact that she's white, and he's black. Most importantly, the views that people had on him and his mother is what bothered him the most. There's so much in his life that he doesn't understand that he doesn't know who he is. Lily Owens had this same type of challenge throughout the novel in The Secret Life of Bees. Lily was on a search for identity while finding out the truth about her mother. All three characters had challenges finding out about themselves, they desperately needed to search for their own identities.
Something incredibly important in understanding who you are is having acceptance. Acceptance is what every person on the Earth strives to achieve. Without the acceptance from society, an individual doesn't have the self-fulfilling power to grow and succeed, and that's apparently missing in James McBride's story, where he doesn't have people accepting who he is, so he struggles with his life. That didn't matter because his siblings and himself went on to achieve great things in their life with the encouragement of their mother. Whereas, Zora Neale Hurston does accept who she is despite societal views being a weight on her road to success, but she is confident with who she is and went on to do great things.I've always been one to try and achieve the goals that I want to, and others being accepting of me is something that is on my mind. It's said that it shouldn't matter what people think, but it always plays on people's minds. In reality, it really shouldn't matter. The views of other people don't do anything but put down the great success that is possible. Black or white, it doesn't matter, anyone is capable of great things. Societal views are the narrow minded people that will instantly pick out the flaws and not take the time to see all the greatness.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
One And The Same
In both The Secret Life of Bees and How It Feels to Be Colored Me, The Boatwright sisters and Zora Neale Hurston herself are great, driven and optimistic people. Hurston took so much pride in her race and didn't let prejudice and racism get in the way of her dreams. "No, I do not weep at the world--I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife" (294). The way Hurston writes with such optimism and pride in her heritage is extremely admirable since she wrote that during a time where black's had such limited right's in society. Hurston knew she had a lot to offer to the world and the pigmentation of her skin definitely wasn't going to get in the way of that. This connects to the The Boatwright sisters, especially August in particular. She had that same type of optimism in life. August never let the fact that she was a black in South Carolina get in the way of her dreams. This novel and autobiographical essay both go into the magnificent lives of colored individuals and they feel they're as what Hurston said,"Not tragically colored" (294).
"I feel like a brown bag of miscellany propped against a wall. Against a wall in company with other bags, white, red and yellow. Pour out the contents, and there is discovered a jumble of things priceless and worthless...A bit of colored glass would not matter. Perhaps that is how the Great Stuffer of Bags filled them in the first place--who knows?" (297). When I read How It Feels to Be Colored Me, by Zora Neale Hurston, that was my favorite quote in the entire essay. I feel there's so much truth in those short sentences. What Hurston says is similar to what was carved into our country's building in the Declaration of Independence about how, "All men are created equal". But then there was slavery, then the civil war, then the Civil Rights movement. The idea of different colored bags with the same contents was neglected. No matter how many naive close-minded people believe that skin color can change who a person is, they're all wrong.
When you pour out the feeings, thoughts, emotions of all different types of people, we're all the same. We're all just human beings trying to reach our full potential and fulfill our own version of the American Dream in one way or another. I believe that despite all the differences countries may have together, we feel the same emotions, we strive to be successful, we long to be accepted, we're all the same.
"I feel like a brown bag of miscellany propped against a wall. Against a wall in company with other bags, white, red and yellow. Pour out the contents, and there is discovered a jumble of things priceless and worthless...A bit of colored glass would not matter. Perhaps that is how the Great Stuffer of Bags filled them in the first place--who knows?" (297). When I read How It Feels to Be Colored Me, by Zora Neale Hurston, that was my favorite quote in the entire essay. I feel there's so much truth in those short sentences. What Hurston says is similar to what was carved into our country's building in the Declaration of Independence about how, "All men are created equal". But then there was slavery, then the civil war, then the Civil Rights movement. The idea of different colored bags with the same contents was neglected. No matter how many naive close-minded people believe that skin color can change who a person is, they're all wrong.
When you pour out the feeings, thoughts, emotions of all different types of people, we're all the same. We're all just human beings trying to reach our full potential and fulfill our own version of the American Dream in one way or another. I believe that despite all the differences countries may have together, we feel the same emotions, we strive to be successful, we long to be accepted, we're all the same.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Racial Role Reversal
As we read farther into The Secret Life of Bees more racism plays out. Surprisingly, it's not the typical stereotype people may think when they hear "racism" In the novel, the blacks are mistreated and are dealing with racism, but then the tables slightly turn onto Lily. She is a little shocked that there is some racism against her. She understands that she's white and never thought that she would actually have to deal with something like prejudice, she had always assumed that it was something that only black people had to deal with.
Lily was shocked when she overhead Augest and June talking. June has some problems with Lily and they have to do with her raced. June says ,"But she's white, Augest" (87). Lily didn't understand or accept that people could be rejected for being white. This is like a role reversal in many ways. She then understood what it felt like to be a black person and dealing with the prejudices that they dealt with every day. I believe that if many white people were able to understand what Lily felt, then maybe they'd be more accepting to African Americans instead of just putting them down with cruel segregation laws.
This role reversal is a huge connection in terms of the racism against the African American culture in America. I believe that maybe if whites were able to share the feelings that Lily did, and experience the anger that she felt, that she wasn't accepted, maybe Martin Luther King Jr., wouldn've have been thrown into jail countless times, and James Meredith could've gotten the education that he deservered at the University of Mississippi. The the great figures of the Civil Right's Movement had something called "Rightous indignation" (87) just like Lily had when hearing June, They stood up for the right's they knew they deserved but didn't have. If white's during the Civil Rights Movement took a minute and maybe put theirself in a black person's shoe dealing with racism, it may have been possible that many of the cruel crimes and violations maybe would never of happened, and black's could've segregated and lived a normal life quicker and easier, like they deserved.
Lily was shocked when she overhead Augest and June talking. June has some problems with Lily and they have to do with her raced. June says ,"But she's white, Augest" (87). Lily didn't understand or accept that people could be rejected for being white. This is like a role reversal in many ways. She then understood what it felt like to be a black person and dealing with the prejudices that they dealt with every day. I believe that if many white people were able to understand what Lily felt, then maybe they'd be more accepting to African Americans instead of just putting them down with cruel segregation laws.
This role reversal is a huge connection in terms of the racism against the African American culture in America. I believe that maybe if whites were able to share the feelings that Lily did, and experience the anger that she felt, that she wasn't accepted, maybe Martin Luther King Jr., wouldn've have been thrown into jail countless times, and James Meredith could've gotten the education that he deservered at the University of Mississippi. The the great figures of the Civil Right's Movement had something called "Rightous indignation" (87) just like Lily had when hearing June, They stood up for the right's they knew they deserved but didn't have. If white's during the Civil Rights Movement took a minute and maybe put theirself in a black person's shoe dealing with racism, it may have been possible that many of the cruel crimes and violations maybe would never of happened, and black's could've segregated and lived a normal life quicker and easier, like they deserved.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Standing Up For Your Beliefs
It's Black History Month, and we have begun to read texts that demonstrate the struggles of African Americans in the 1960s. This is when the Civil Rights law was passed by former President Johnson. In Martin Luther King's, Letter From Birmingham Jail, I was shocked to read about how he was thrown in jail for something that he simply believed in, which was ending racial segregation. My favorite part of his entire letter was when King described the American Dream. "They were in reality standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judaeo Christian heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence." (1140). Martin Luther King Jr. wanted all African Americans to live the American Dream freely and not be bound down to evil unfair segregation. In the Declaration of Independence, one of the document's on which our country prides itself, states that all men of this country are created equal. All being equal, everyone had a fair shot at the American Dream, the irony is that, during this time many black Americans couldn't reach that because of the horrible, unfair segregation in America.
Connecting to the novel that we recently started, The Secret Life of Bees, the character of Rosaleen, was unfairly put down by racism and segregation of African Americans. Rosaleen like all African Americans of the time wanted to live their own American Dreams and prosper in the country. But, they couldn't, due to ridiculous laws preventing them from doing many things white's could do. Rosaleen wanted to go into town and register to vote but she was getting harassed by white men, with rude comments. She fought back and poured her tobacco cup on their shoes. While reading, I was shocked when the men literally got up and beat her. She's a woman, and a man should never beat a woman. That just shows the disgusting racial views many white American's had during those times. Just that demonstrates that something needed to be changed in America.
Most importantly, what Martin Luther King Jr. and the character of Rosaleen did is a drive to all people trying to accomplish a goal in life. Rosaleen's story is historically true, she was an African American woman trying to get the American right's that she deserves. Many African American's were trying to do the same thing Rosaleen was. The character of Rosaleen, and then some actual Civil Right's activists, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and many more are extremely inspirational American citizens. When the United States was going through one of the biggest racial segregation battles of its history, these people were brave and powerful enough to stand up and fight for what's right and end the unrighteous barrier between white's and black's. Those people didn't care that they could go to jail for what they were trying to accomplish, they were fighting for what was right and did things that have gone down in history.
I find Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks and the other figures of the Civil Right's Movement great examples of historical Americans. They stood up for what they believe in, ending some as important as racial segregation and accomplishing something great for America and letting all have a fair shot at the American Dream. If those great people could help accomplish something that then seemed such a far shot and sometimes impossible, you should never give up on what you believe in because, it can always be done if you put your heart in it and not let anything get in your way.
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
Martin Luther King Jr.
-- I Have A Dream
Connecting to the novel that we recently started, The Secret Life of Bees, the character of Rosaleen, was unfairly put down by racism and segregation of African Americans. Rosaleen like all African Americans of the time wanted to live their own American Dreams and prosper in the country. But, they couldn't, due to ridiculous laws preventing them from doing many things white's could do. Rosaleen wanted to go into town and register to vote but she was getting harassed by white men, with rude comments. She fought back and poured her tobacco cup on their shoes. While reading, I was shocked when the men literally got up and beat her. She's a woman, and a man should never beat a woman. That just shows the disgusting racial views many white American's had during those times. Just that demonstrates that something needed to be changed in America.
Most importantly, what Martin Luther King Jr. and the character of Rosaleen did is a drive to all people trying to accomplish a goal in life. Rosaleen's story is historically true, she was an African American woman trying to get the American right's that she deserves. Many African American's were trying to do the same thing Rosaleen was. The character of Rosaleen, and then some actual Civil Right's activists, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and many more are extremely inspirational American citizens. When the United States was going through one of the biggest racial segregation battles of its history, these people were brave and powerful enough to stand up and fight for what's right and end the unrighteous barrier between white's and black's. Those people didn't care that they could go to jail for what they were trying to accomplish, they were fighting for what was right and did things that have gone down in history.
I find Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks and the other figures of the Civil Right's Movement great examples of historical Americans. They stood up for what they believe in, ending some as important as racial segregation and accomplishing something great for America and letting all have a fair shot at the American Dream. If those great people could help accomplish something that then seemed such a far shot and sometimes impossible, you should never give up on what you believe in because, it can always be done if you put your heart in it and not let anything get in your way.
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
Martin Luther King Jr.
-- I Have A Dream
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Understanding The Truth
Truth vs. fiction, these are normally recognized as two different things, but can they also be one and the same? Or are all the stories and historical documents we trust as being actual fact simply a correlation of truth and fiction? In Tim O'Brien's war story novel The Things They Carried, the stories he wrote were fiction with a true underlying basis, but as one would read the story, it'd feel as if one was connecting with Kiowa, Jimmy Cross, Ted Lavender as if one really knew them. It gives a glimpse into the horror of war. The reader can read about Vietnam and can only imagine that some of the same tragedies are going on over in Iraq and others parts of the Middle East.
In an interview of O'Brien that we watched in class, he enforced that his story is much half truth. The emotions of the stories are true but the characters and much of the actual story line are false. Although I knew it was a fabrication of the truth, I was a little upset, I felt cheated, as if someone told an emotional heartfelt story, and then ended it saying, "Sorry, it's all made up."
In reality, anything in life can be a interpretation of someone else's view of an event. The history books we learn from, they're based on historical document, but the men and women that were alive during this time that wrote this down, could have viewed it as their own interpretation therefore making it their own interpretation of the truth. As O' Brien quotes on the last page of How to Tell a True War Story "It wasn't a war story. It was a love story". (85) This is what O'Brien did, although the characters were not true or the exact details weren't the heartfelt emotions were what was true. Just as O' Brien quoted Pablo Picasso's famous quote "Art is all that makes us realize the truth" perfectly fits O' Brien's story and all the stories of life in general, all the fancy details and added facts helps us understand and dig down to what's real.
I believe that a fabrication of the truth is needed to make a story seemed appealing, many of the movies and books out have a common title "based on a true story" the underlying meaning is true, but a lot of the shocking events and characters are added in to make the story overall more entertaining and emotionally connecting. As long as the details are made up and the underlying meaning is true, that's all that matters right?
In an interview of O'Brien that we watched in class, he enforced that his story is much half truth. The emotions of the stories are true but the characters and much of the actual story line are false. Although I knew it was a fabrication of the truth, I was a little upset, I felt cheated, as if someone told an emotional heartfelt story, and then ended it saying, "Sorry, it's all made up."In reality, anything in life can be a interpretation of someone else's view of an event. The history books we learn from, they're based on historical document, but the men and women that were alive during this time that wrote this down, could have viewed it as their own interpretation therefore making it their own interpretation of the truth. As O' Brien quotes on the last page of How to Tell a True War Story "It wasn't a war story. It was a love story". (85) This is what O'Brien did, although the characters were not true or the exact details weren't the heartfelt emotions were what was true. Just as O' Brien quoted Pablo Picasso's famous quote "Art is all that makes us realize the truth" perfectly fits O' Brien's story and all the stories of life in general, all the fancy details and added facts helps us understand and dig down to what's real.
I believe that a fabrication of the truth is needed to make a story seemed appealing, many of the movies and books out have a common title "based on a true story" the underlying meaning is true, but a lot of the shocking events and characters are added in to make the story overall more entertaining and emotionally connecting. As long as the details are made up and the underlying meaning is true, that's all that matters right?
Sunday, November 14, 2010
More Than Just A Book
Reading is a part of every young child's life. When I was a child, reading was my absolute favorite way to spend a day. My mom and I would go to the library every now and then and I would find some books to bring home to start reading. This was extremely exciting to me because reading was a big part of my childhood and remained there while growing up. Some of my favorites were the Magic Tree House series. Every time I picked up a new one, it'd take me on a whole new adventure. I loved every second of reading and it never got dull, reading a new book never just never got old to me. The Dr. Seuss series were books that just captured my attention and kept me wanting every single book in the series by their bright colors and captivating illustrations. I remember asking my grandma to buy me them, and being a typical grandma, she did. One of my strongest memories of reading were the reading plans that you would do to get Great America tickets. I would read all day and all night just to get those priced tickets for a day at Six Flags. I did those for a few summers and was able to have fun at Six Flags, which made it all worth it.
Now that I'm older, reading has left my life for the most part, I don't read books for fun anymore because I can't seem to have to attention span to sit down and read. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy a good book when I happen to find one. I have read some books over the years that I have definitely gotten a place in my all time favorites. West Side Story is one of my favorite books and always will be, this book is one that I just seemed to get totally wrapped up with and was able to enjoy from beginning to end. The Outsiders is another one that I loved even though it made me cry, it's one of my favorites.
Reading was a big part of my life while growing up and influenced much of what I think today. That's what of the most important facts of reading, it can shape who you are. The story lines, characters, themes all presented in a story don't just go in one ear and out the other, they stay. This then can influence how you feel about a situation, or even how you might act. It's silly for one to believe that a book is just a story, it's much more than that. It's filled with real-life scenarios that can shape how we live.
Now that I'm older, reading has left my life for the most part, I don't read books for fun anymore because I can't seem to have to attention span to sit down and read. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy a good book when I happen to find one. I have read some books over the years that I have definitely gotten a place in my all time favorites. West Side Story is one of my favorite books and always will be, this book is one that I just seemed to get totally wrapped up with and was able to enjoy from beginning to end. The Outsiders is another one that I loved even though it made me cry, it's one of my favorites.
Reading was a big part of my life while growing up and influenced much of what I think today. That's what of the most important facts of reading, it can shape who you are. The story lines, characters, themes all presented in a story don't just go in one ear and out the other, they stay. This then can influence how you feel about a situation, or even how you might act. It's silly for one to believe that a book is just a story, it's much more than that. It's filled with real-life scenarios that can shape how we live.
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