Zora Neale Hurston Racism

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Since the start of the Civil War, the United States has slowly been winning the uphill battle for racial equality. It is easy to look at authors such as Zora Neale Hurston and Brent Staples and wonder why there are problems with racist behaviors in our country when we seemingly have come so far. While Staples blames the system for this and not the people doing the acts, Hurston does not condemn anyone, but the implies black community turns themselves into victims. Although there are things that are better ignored than attacked, systematic racism cannot be overcome without calling attention to it. In the essay “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” Zora Neale Hurston explores the concept of her racial identity and self-pride. Hurston begins her essay …show more content…

By growing up in a community where she was largely shielded from racism, Hurston was able to establish a sense of self-pride that many black people lacked. While Hurston undoubtedly experiences many struggles due to her race, she lacks sympathy for her fellow African-Americans that experienced far worse. This acceptance of racist behavior is seemingly mirrored in Brent Staples’s essay “Just Walk on By,” but it is clear that Staples and Hurston do not agree on certain points. Although Staples does not blame any specific person for his struggles, he does not make light of them. Where Hurston might minimize his writings and say he is from “the sobbing school of Negrohood,” Staples would respond that he is not playing the victim, he is afraid for his life and change is necessary. In his essay, Staples says “I only need to [be near a]scared and armed person [to encounter] the possibility of death.” Hurston’s lighthearted metaphors and colloquial style are endearing and captivating, but, they turn attention away from the problem of racism as a system and turns it into something that every black person needs to “get over.” It is important to move forward and ignore past injustices but, if people do not call attention to systematic injustices, these

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