Naive or Daringly Optimistic? Adrienne Rich once wrote an open letter titled “Politics of Location” that profoundly opened my eyes to a relevantly obvious concept of self-identity. More often than not, one fails to see the truth that sits right before his or her own eyes. However, it is still the responsibility of the individual to be accountable for that truth. The concept of politics of location is simply that one’s life experiences affects one’s perspective. Unintentionally, individuals make themselves the center of reality. When, in actuality, one is only the center of his or her own reality. Rich also goes on to explain that people are different; yet, individuals have an uncanny since of imagined community. That being, the feeling that …show more content…
First, I began imagining who and what events have formed my politics of location. Most obviously, I am a black young woman in the United State of America. I have lived to witness the first black president get elected into office and run two terms. Although a significant victory for people of color, it seems long overdue as slavery ended December 6, 1865 on the day the 13th amendment of the Constitution was ratified. Its now been more than 100 years later. As a young, black person I was inspired to believe that the sky was the limit for …show more content…
I reside here in the United States of America. Currently, I am in Montgomery, Alabama, at a predominately white institute. I sit in a room full of white faces. I find myself intrigued, yet out of place as on the first day, my teacher transforms what I thought to be a typical literature class into a discussion of black women’s rights. I look around observing my peers’ faces as I begin to feel uneasy as the professors indulges into the lecture. I question myself as to why do I feel uncomfortable, as if my professor has revealed secret, government information. Why is it that being taught of black significance seem to compel an uproar within me, yet all of my life I have learned of astonishing white individuals while black excellence was only to be explored within the shortest month of the year? I find it so peculiar how my politics of location has caused me to be reluctant of speaking of black history or anything black in the presence of non-colored individuals. Being a female and a black individual, is it naive of me or daringly optimistic to believe that one day everyone can be treated equally and help one another prosper. As Martin Luther King, Jr. believed that the world would be equal opportunity despite his politics of location, can’t I too. I conclude that Adrienne Rich shinned a light on this obvious concept that many should take a moment to ponder on. Then, as one realizes that one is simply the center
Identity is 'how you view yourself and your life.'; (p. 12 Knots in a String.) Your identity helps you determine where you think you fit in, in your life. It is 'a rich complexity of images, ideas and associations.';(p. 12 Knots in a String.) It is given that as we go through our lives and encounter different experiences our identity of yourselves and where we belong may change. As this happens we may gain or relinquish new values and from this identity and image our influenced. 'A bad self-image and low self-esteem may form part of identity?but often the cause is not a loss of identity itself so much as a loss of belonging.'; Social psychologists suggest that identity is closely related to our culture. Native people today have been faced with this challenge against their identity as they are increasingly faced with a non-native society. I will prove that the play The Rez Sisters showed this loss of identity and loss of belonging. When a native person leaves the reservation to go and start a new life in a city they are forced to adapt to a lifestyle they are not accustomed to. They do not feel as though they fit in or belong to any particular culture. They are faced with extreme racism and stereotypes from other people in the nonreservational society.
According to West, “the attitudes of white scholars in the academy are quite different than those in the past” (West pg. 303). In the dilemma of the black intellectual Afro-American intellectual often known better as “black’s” have a stressful time in being acceptance in whites universities and find themselves in one of the black educational institutions for potential black intellectuals. Many black’s begin their intellectual career with hopes of self worth and self confidence in a way that is in alignment with certain values. Under the effects of their own emotional pain however, some black’s become removed from those values, removed from the purpose behind their intellectual. Black’s can feel like a ship in stormy seas, floundering with nothing solid to anchor to. When black’s make demands, use criticism or labeling to be taken seriously as potential scholars and intellectuals in our universities and colleges to vulgar perceptions fueled by
It is in gaining a sense of our identity that we find a place to belong. This is presented in Episode 4, Stand Up, of the television series Redfern Now, directed by Rachael Perkins.
Sociology is very complicated, it’s full of terms that can be misinterpreted. For example, social location is interpreted several ways. The most common it the assumption that it’s where you live, in actuality, it’s who you are, your social class, education, gender, race, ethnicity, and the culture. Your social location is affected, by sociological perspective, Henslin (2015) notes, “sociological perspective which stresses the social contexts where people live” (p. 2). As humans, we have to overcome social challenges every day some of us more than other.
My entire education has taken place in the United States of America. It has consisted of public school, college, and graduate school. I only had one teacher during my public school career who wasn't white. I had a female African-American English teacher when I was in Junior High School. The student body of my junior high school was over ninety-percent black, yet our faculty was entirely white with the exception of two black teachers. So, during my entire elementary and high school careers I never saw a person of color in the front of the class.
Belonging is a fluid concept that adapts and shifts within a person’s lifetime. It is subjective and can encourage feelings of security, happiness and acceptance or conversely alienation and dislocation. One's perception of belonging, and therefore identity, is significantly influenced by place and relationships established within one's environment. This is evident in Steven Herrick's free verse novel “The Simple Gift” and the short story “The River that wasn’t ours” by Ashley Reynolds.
Prejudice, racism, discrimination have always been present in society. Combined together, they form one of the most terrible and dreadful ways of treating and thinking about another human being. The effects of these actions and views on individuals have impacted society in an irreparable and tragic way. Judging someone by the color of their skin creates permanent impacts in people’s lives. A consequence caused by that old-fashioned way of thinking and seeing society in general is the effects these views have on black children education: a considerable number of American black children suffer to get a good education since they are in preschool.
I agree that true equality will exist when everybody is treated equal, no matter what race, religion, or sex they are. Equality does not exist when people are being punished for how pretty they are, how smart they are, what race or religion they are, etc. If people could learn to stop judging everything they believe to be not normal and just accept people for who they truly are, then I believe that this country would have a chance at true equality. No matter how much effort people put into changing the way people are treated, there is always going to be somebody who is against the rules, meaning, there will never be true equality, but you can come close to it if a majority of the citizens could learn to stop judging people.
“But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.” That was the famous “I Had a Dream” speech held by Martin Luther King Jr., which was said on the steps of Lincoln Memorial. African Americans had numerous amounts of barriers to overcome. They had these barriers to reach just to be treated equal with other people over history. African Americans were taken from their family to work for a stranger for free under harsh conditions; this period of history is called slavery. 200 years after the slave trade was abolished, the African Americans still had to overcome more barriers to reach equality. African Americans went through a tough time during the period of segregation. Segregation was harsh in the south, especially in Louisiana. After the two rough periods in history, African Americans still had more barriers to overcome to reach equality. The period after segregation when people of all races started to go to school together is called integration. African Americans were subjected to racism during this time period. African Americans made one final push for equality during the Civil Rights Movement. Racism has plagued Louisiana in its beginning years. Written in the U.S. Constitution, it is said that all men are created equal, but African Americans had to fight for their equ...
W.E.B. DuBois (1868 – 1963), a Civil Rights activist began to confront the popular point of view and stereotypes of African-Americans (Welcome to the Civil Rights Digital Library, 2011). Discouraging images became a part of the accepted society, but were also implanted in the educational and scientific institutions of the United States. The initial founders of ethnic studies set out to discredit bogus theories and propaganda about African-Americans. The civil rights movement challenged the political and cultural authority of white America and confronted educational institutions that discriminated and demoralized African-Americans because of their race. As warriors of this cause, they were adamant about institutional equality, the end of discriminatory practices, and curriculum reform.
Women have been treated unequally since the beginning of time. Just recently have things began to change for the better for women and the future of our society. The increase in women’s equality rights will take time, but some day women and men will be treated equally. This cannot happen until each of us is able to look at a person and just see another individual, not a male or a female, white or black, rich or poor… a person as just a person.
During my early years of school, I remember being taught white accomplishments and wondering if blacks and other people of color had made any significant contributions to today's world. I noticed that television consist of all white people. Throughout my research paper I hope to cover certain aspects of African American heritage. Aspects such as blacks making up the largest minority group in the United States, although Mexican-Americans are rapidly changing that. The contributions blacks have provided to our country are immeasurable. Unfortunately though rather than recognizing these contributions, white America would rather focus on oppressing and degrading these people. As a consequence American society instinctively associated white with light and all good things; while black is associated with darkness or evil.
Identity. This simple world fulfills the answers to multitudes of questions: Who are you? Where do you come from? How do you appear? When were you born? Where will life take you? While some believe we answer these questions for ourselves, many scholars and experts in the field of media and cultural studies beg to differ. Conformity has become a social norm, and many people are no longer inclined to search for their own identity in the world. People allow the world and its inhabitants to identify them. Just as media and marketing have begun putting labels on everything people wear, digest, and observe, people too have become subject to labeling. These labels lead individuals to become ‘one dimensional’. In the words of Robinson (2010), this one dimensionality is due to the fact that the vast majority of human beings allow consumer culture and public opinion to dominate over their individuality. Evolving ideologies, alienating binary oppositions, and the question of identity are intertwined with media, culture and society in the lives of every being, be it implicitly or
By giving everyone the same, equal treatment, mankind will already be winning the fight for equality. “All I’m saying is, kindness don’t have no boundaries,” Abileen states in the renowned period novel “The Help”, which has served to shed some light on that era and discourage against racism (Stockett 312). If people applied that simple concept to civil rights and equal opportunities, the world would not face such high rates of inequality and injustice. Kindness, like equal treatment, should be given to all, regardless of barriers such as race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, etc. This does not necessarily mean that all members of society should be seen as the same; that shortcut completely distracts from the problem at hand. It means that all members of society should receive the same respect, kindness, and rights that all human beings are entitled to. This unequal treatment can be summed up by this statement:
Today, Black culture is a buzzword. Online, many member of the millennial generation contest the appropriation and appreciation of Black culture on a daily basis. Yet, there exists numerous interpretations of the term “Black culture” itself. Though Black culture can mirror Pan-African sentiments and seek to represent the cultures of all Black people throughout the diaspora, the term sometimes refers to specific experiences of Blackness. These include those of: African Americans, an American who has African ancestry; Africans, a person born, raised, or living in Africa; and Blacks, relating to a group of people who have dark skin and come originally from Africa. Though the African American lens is typically used when discussing material examples