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In this book Glory is overwhelmed with how her town is handling people who are different than they are. She realizes that her favorite local pool is closing down so colored people can’t swim with the whites. Glory becomes an activist herself and writes a letter to the newspaper lining which makes her preacher father proud. Therefore, the theme of this book is to treat everyone equally, such as when Glory’s friend Frankie from Ohio drinks out of the “colored fountain”. Also, when Glory’s sisters boyfriend that he was arrested for sitting with a “colored friend” at the white table.
In the memoir, Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, a theme is dreams are achievable= despite obstacles. In the book, Jackie speaks about growing up with a dream to become a writer, but she has dyslexia and her family and friends try to gently steer her away from her dream because they don't want her to be heartbroken if she ever fails because of her condition. In Woodsons poem, “when I tell my family”, her mother states, “It’s a good hobby, we see how quiet it keeps you. They say,/But maybe you should be a teacher,/a lawyer,/do hair . . .” (Woodson 229)
Tan’s “Fish Cheeks” and Angelou’s “Champion of the World” both show a personal narrative dealing with young girls of a minority living in an unwelcoming society. In Tan’s “Fish Cheeks,” she is surrounded by family during an important holiday, and must ‘endure’ what she sees as an embarrassment when her family behave in a way that she finds shameful. She watched as her ‘crush’ repeatedly showed his own discomfort at their ways, which were strange to him, when all she wanted was for him to see her family in a good light. Tan grew up in a family who were different from those around her, where she constantly attempted to repress her heritage and fit in with those she believed were ‘normal.’
In the book, there are significant racial tensions and racial divisions in society. Young Black women like Lauren, the primary character, must find their way in a society where they face prejudice and marginalization. In the story, racism is shown as a persistent menace in a society where one's character or aptitudes are more often evaluated than the color of one's skin. Unfortunately, this is a problem that persists in modern culture. The work emphasizes the consequences of institutionalized racism, which persists today.
Her tragedy reflects not only the sexism in the African American families in early 20th century, but also the uselessness
Nella Larsen’s Passing is a novella about the past experiences of African American women ‘passing’ as whites for equal opportunities. Larsen presents the day to day issues African American women face during their ‘passing’ journey through her characters of Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry. During the reading process, we progressively realize ‘passing’ in Harlem, New York during the 1920’s becomes difficult for both of these women physically and mentally as different kinds of challenges approach ahead. Although Larsen decides the novella to be told in a third person narrative, different thoughts and messages of Irene and Clare communicate broken ideas for the reader, causing the interpretation of the novella to vary from different perspectives.
As a child, she recognized that her imitation of ‘White” afforded opportunities of mobility, education, acceptance and privilege. Her mother’s appearance as “Black” afforded opportunities of poverty, inferiority, and inequality. So, she fails to mention her mother’s identity and occupation to classroom peers and teacher. Sarah Jane wants cultural assimilation and white privilege.
In ZZ Packer's “Brownies” and “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere” both discuss the obstacles in life that allow reflection in the characters lives to discover the meanness in the world. “Brownies” is when young black girls go to summer camp with white girls, they are racially segregated by choice and prejudice is present. When they encounter a difficult situation with the white girls they are able to understand the world better as they go home. Furthermore in “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere” Dina the main character is a black lady who struggles with finding her identity and accepting that she is lesbian while isolating herself from everyone around her. Through her encounter with a canadian white girl named Heidi they form a friendship that changes into
Asian American Cathy Song drew closer to her Korean-Chinese ancestry, and was able to describe in a clear image of the two women she represent, one being the industrial American women and the other one being the Chinese caretaker. Cathy Song was born and raised in Hawaii making her an American by birth right. This fact did not keep her from engulfing her Korean-Chinese heritage. In the poem “Lost Sister”, Song isolates a young girl who struggles to find who she truly is in China, because of all the restrictions. The young girl wants to go to America to seek a needed fulfilment.
In a world that sees individuals as either black or white, one is put in a complicated position when one fits into neither category. In Heidi W. Durrow's novel The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, Rachel Morse, the daughter of a black father and a white mother, is taken in by her grandmother after she miraculously survives a horrifying tragedy that claims the lives of her brother, mother, and sister. While adjusting to her new life in Portland, Oregon, Rachel learns that she must deal with her mixed race as that is the first, and often only, aspect of her that other people notice. In her novel The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, Durrow describes how race prevents society from seeing deeper into one’s individual character ultimately demonstrating that
To be a woman of color, took bravery along with containing the characteristic grace and patience. A woman who was dark skinned, and obtained harsh conditions without an explanation forced to their will, putting their life in jeopardy without a flinch was a Saint. A Saint of creation for an artistic lifestyle, with all the above characteristics of being a heroine for the future. “Black women whose spiritually was so intense, so deep, so unconscious, that they were themselves unaware of the richness they had”, expressed poet Jean Toomer with that discovery of walking the south in the twenties. A time in American History, in which makes me disgusted to know the land we stand on uprose with slavery.
Family and writing make up the identity of who people are in the world. In Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, it follows poems that show moments throughout her life. She grew up during the time of the Civil Rights movement where black people protested for rights. Jacqueline finds her identity by showing her beliefs with writing and memories. Jaqueline’s family and her first efforts as a writer inspired her to identify her beliefs and wonders of the world with what she had learned throughout her life.
Although miscegenation is not a new topic, the effects that this phenomenon has on people’s lives has been the source of inspiration for many literary works. “Miscegenation” by Natasha Trethewey is an autobiographical poem that expresses the difficulty that mixed-race people face in accepting their identity in a society that discriminates people who are different. That is, this poem expresses how racial discrimination can affect the identity of those people who do not identify as white or black. Besides, in this poem, Trethewey narrates her origin, as well as how her parents were victims of a society that did not accept their relationship. Therefore, the speaker starts by saying “In 1965 my parents broke two laws of Mississippi” (Trethewey 1); those two laws that broke the Trethewey’s parents were that they were married and had a daughter.
“Incident” by Natasha Tretheway brings to life the horrors African Americans faced during the time the Ku Klux Klan was rampant in the United States. Fear and secretiveness was an everyday part of African American lives. They were unable to live like white Americans were due to the racism they faced. This poem, however, symbolizes the idea that life continues through the fear of it crumbling. The narrator is still alive to tell his or her story; therefore, this is evidence that life continues.
In order to change history, people must learn from their mistakes. Segregation in North America has been a big issue in North America that unfortunately still happens in the world today, however, it is not as bad as it once was. In the poem “History Lesson” by Natasha Trethewey, the author uses mood, symbolism and imagery to describe the racial segregation coloured people faced in the past compared to more recent times, where equality is improved and celebrated. The author uses language and setting to influence the mood and meaning of the poem.