In-Class Blog

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.

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.