Frances E. W. Harper extensively examines the related issues of racial 'passing' and miscegenation in Iola Leroy, a novel published in 1892 which features an African-American, female protagonist whose unusually "blue... eyes" and "white... complexion" permit her to transcend racialized divisions (17). Most prominently, Iola's perceived whiteness translates to her potential marriageability to the white men she encounters, a union which would effectually initiate Iola into white society. This conflict—and indeed, Iola's rejection of white Dr. Gresham's marriage proposal—is expounded in Chapter 27 of Harper's book, "Diverging Paths." Chapter 26, "Open Questions," presents a philosophical discourse about miscegenation that is complimented and directly …show more content…
Although the discrepancy in time period between the novel and selected archival documents is substantial—approximately seventy years, in fact, as the three historical materials roughly date back to 1960s—public opinion regarding these controversial topics altered negligibly during this lengthy interval, an unfortunate reality that demonstrates the slow progression of civil rights history. Even into the contemporary moment, interracial relationships in particular remain a contentious subject in various conservative pockets of the nation. This time-related concession addressed, the first historical article that I wish to collate with Harper's novel is a photograph entitled Edgar and Randy Williamson; 1964. The ostensible whiteness of the young boys depicted is challenged by the image's accompanying caption: "The boys were deemed 1/16 or 1/32 black and were therefore barred from their local white and black schools" (citation). The curator's meticulous selection of the word "deemed" is significant here, because such a usage connotes the very arbitrary nature of such a racial designation; this ambiguity is further revealed by the imprecise ruling that the boys may be either "1/16 or 1/32 black." Such imprecision begs the question: how can an individual be …show more content…
Aside from instances of cross-racial sexual assault or coercion—and indeed, Dr. Latimer laments the frequency with which master-slave rapes occurred—these examples of consensual, interracial relationships were marked by the stigmatic label 'miscegenation' (citation). Had Harper's heroine Iola accepted Dr. Gresham's marriage proposal, their union would be in outright defiance of the nineteenth century's anti-miscegenation laws. Although her racial ambiguity could conceivably prevent local authorities from recognizing the illegality of their marriage and from pursuing criminal charges, Iola admits her anxiety that they would still face "social ostracism" despite her light complexion: "Doctor, were I your wife, are there not people would caress me as a white woman who would shrink from me in scorn if they knew I had one drop of negro blood in my veins?" (citation). These complex social attitudes toward miscegenation are elucidated in two pamphlets from the archive: D. B. Red's "Race Mixing a Religious Fraud" and Dr. Bela Hubbard's "The Hybrid Race Doctrine: A Critical Analysis of Some Teachings of Modern Anthropology." The disparate institutions whose ideologies these pamphlets represent—the former defends segregation in the Christian church whereas the
Christopher Paul Curtis wrote The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 throughout the course of 1995. The novel follows the Watsons, a black family living in Flint, Michigan during the Civil Rights Era. In a historical context, 1963 and the early 1990s have far more in common than one would expect. The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 following the church bombing in Birmingham, and yet race-based discrimination remains a problem even in our modern society via passive racism. This paper will analyze the ways in which Curtis’ The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 draws parallels between the time in which his is writing during and the time in which he is writing about. This analysis will also shed light on what can be called the “white standard,” wherein all things white are “good” or “better” and anything not-white is “bad.”
The novel The Garies and their Friends is a realistic examination of the complex psychology of blacks who try to assimilate through miscegenation and crossing the color barrier by “passing as white.” Frank J. Webb critiques why blacks cannot pass as being white through the characters Mr. Winston and Clarence Jr.
In the months following the Brown v. Board of Education decision C. Vann Woodward wrote a series of lectures that would provide the basis for one of the most historically significant pieces of nonfiction literature written in the 20th century. Originally, Woodward’s lectures were directed to a local and predominantly southern audience, but as his lectures matured into a comprehensive text they gained national recognition. In 1955 Woodward published the first version of The Strange Career of Jim Crow, a novel that would spark a fluid historical dialogue that would continue for the next twenty years. Woodward foresaw this possibility as he included in the first edition, “Since I am…dealing with a period of the past that has not been adequately investigated, and also with events of the present that have come too rapidly and recently to have been properly digested and understood, it is rather inevitable that I shall make some mistakes. I shall expect and hope to be corrected.” Over this time period Woodward released four separate editions, in chapter form, that modified, corrected, and responded to contemporary criticisms.
Assumptions from the beginning, presumed the Jim Crow laws went hand in hand with slavery. Slavery, though, contained an intimacy between the races that the Jim Crow South did not possess. Woodward used another historian’s quote to illustrate the familiarity of blacks and whites in the South during slavery, “In every city in Dixie,’ writes Wade, ‘blacks and whites lived side by side, sharing the same premises if not equal facilities and living constantly in each other’s presence.” (14) Slavery brought about horrible consequences for blacks, but also showed a white tolerance towards blacks. Woodward explained the effect created from the proximity between white owners and slaves was, “an overlapping of freedom and bondage that menaced the institution of slavery and promoted a familiarity and association between black and white that challenged caste taboos.” (15) The lifestyle between slaves and white owners were familiar, because of the permissiveness of their relationship. His quote displayed how interlocked blacks...
What defines an individual’s racial characteristics? Does an individual have the right to discriminate against those that are “different” in a specific way? In Octavia Butler’s works, which are mostly based on themes that correlate to one another, she influences the genre and fiction in ways that bring light to the problems of societies history. Through Kindred and the Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler examines themes of community, racial identification, and racial oppression through the perspective of a black feminist. In each novel, values and historical perspective show the hardships that individuals unique to an alien world have to face. Through the use of fictional works, Butler is able to delve into historical themes and human conditions, and with majority of works under the category of science fiction, Butler is able to explore these themes through a variety of settings. This essay will discuss two of Butler’s popular works, Kindred and the Parable of Sower, and will interpret the themes of women, race, independence, and power throughout the two novels.
They argue that the accruing of property by figures such as Johnson meant that they literally did not think of themselves as living within a racist society, and that, despite the decline of this freedom, it is a mistake to consider their opinions as an “aberration” in a narrative of inevitable racial exploitation (Breen & Innes, 112). Rather, they claim that to understand such people as such an aberration inevitably leads to a situation in which the real equality of their freedom is
Pratt, R. A. (1992). In The Color of Their Skin: Eduation and Race in Richmond Virgina 1954 - 1989 (p. 4). Charlottesville: The University Press of Virigina.
The parents of the seven Carter children, Mae Bertha and Matthew Carter, wanted more than a life of picking cotton for long hours and endless days for their children. When the “Freedom of Choice Act” gave them an opportunity to put their children into white schools, at the time the better schools, Mae Bertha and Matthew immediately decided that their children would attend all white schools in the following school year. Little did they know “they would be the only ones-the only black children to board the bus, the only black children to walk up the steps and through the doors of white schools” (4). That didn’t stop them though, on the morning of September 7, 1965 all seven Carter children boarded the bus for what would end up being years of torment, but also resulted in a monumental time in history. Even though this family had to face desegregating schools alone with no other black family by their side, they did it and they succeeded. A preacher in...
Chafe, William, Raymond Gavins, and Robert Korstad. Remembering Jim Crow. New York: The New Press, 2001.
In this narrative essay, Brent Staples provides a personal account of his experiences as a black man in modern society. “Black Men and Public Space” acts as a journey for the readers to follow as Staples discovers the many societal biases against him, simply because of his skin color. The essay begins when Staples was twenty-two years old, walking the streets of Chicago late in the evening, and a woman responds to his presence with fear. Being a larger black man, he learned that he would be stereotyped by others around him as a “mugger, rapist, or worse” (135).
Sollors, Werner. I Interracialism: Black-White Intermarriage in American History, Literature, and Law. New York: University Press, 2000.
Testament to his resilience and determination in the face of angry segregationists, Ernest assumed the role of head of his family at the age of sixteen, after his father’s death in 1953. Ernest’s mother, an elementary school teacher, and his younger brother Scott both respected this new allotment Ernest assumed at such a young age. His mother knew it was useless attempting to persuade the headstrong Ernest to reconsider attendance at Little Rock Central High School after he had been selected as one of the nine Negro children to attend. Students were selected based ...
Since 1945, in what is defined by literary scholars as the Contemporary Period, it appears that the "refracted public image"(xx) whites hold of blacks continues to necessitate ...
Just a few pages into the book, words had already begun to jump out at me, capturing my attention. “The kids in Newark, black and brown, speaking Spanglish, hoods over their heads, wheeling their stolen cars over to the local chop shop -- they were aliens in America. Strange, forever separate and separated from the American ideal. But these Glen Ridge kids, they were pure gold, every mother’s dream, every father’s pride. They were not only Glen Ridge’s finest, but in their perfection they belonged to all of us. They were Our Guys (page 7).” This is a story about White Privilege, I thought. After reading the next two pages, I changed my mind. “...I wanted to understand how their status as young athlete celebrities in Glen Ridge influenced their treatment of girls and women, particularly those of their age.....I was especially curious about what license they were permitted as a clique of admired athletes and how that magnified the sense of superiority they felt as individuals (pages 8-9).” Oh! This is a story about jock culture, I thought.
The “Black Boy” book by Richard Wright explains both the evident and dangerous effects of racial discrimination in the Southern United States during 1920s. By reading this book, readers can clearly learn about horrible ways African Americans were treated by whites, how only limited employment and educational opportunities were available for them and Christianity role played in black’s life.