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Film Analysis: Two Nations Of Black America

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From the beginning of America there has always been a racial problem that everyone is able to see (that they neglect it is another story). However, there is few talk about the class differences within a race. This is a struggle that many African Americans must face in America. The film Two Nations of Black America, the novel, Sarah Phillips, by Andrea Lee, and the memoir by Margo Jefferson, Negroland, can depict how we as a nation have failed the lower class but also how we as a higher class have failed the lower black class. The film Two Nations of Black American shows us the difference between the middle/upper class and the lower class and how the unity of black class has not been able to solve the problem of economic class. Henry Louis …show more content…

In the novel Sarah shows one certain moments in her life that made her and changed her to be who she was. Growing up Sarah’s parents tried to keep her innocence as long as possible by sending her to good school and moving multiple times to better neighborhoods. “We have to be careful. That school might ruin Sarah” (Lee, Kindle location 874) was one of the concerns that Sarah’s parents faced because they had just integrated Sarah into what was before an all-white school. Certainly, there were other kids that didn’t have to go through the hardship of integrating into white schools, but this was because they didn’t have the knowledge or the education that Sarah had been provided with to actually be integrated. “You and Daddy spend all of your lives sending us to white schools and teaching us to live in a never-never land where people of all colors just get along swell” (Lee Kindle location 1057) is something that comes to show the difference between the education that these kids were getting compared other black kids that were from lower classes. The biggest distinction was the fact that Sarah was able to go to a well-known University such as Harvard which is something that is extremely hard to do especially for a black person, but for Sarah it wasn’t because she had the right tools to do so. Furthermore, Sarah’s stay at the Prescott school shows us how much different Sarah believed to be from those of the lower class “his raised arm seemed to offer a kind of hortatory salute that filled me with a mixture of confusion and embarrassment. During my first fall and spring as a day student at the school, I saw him often on the kitchen porch, and I averted my eyes each time.” (Lee, Kindle location 861) Sarah wasn’t used to being the type of

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School districts are based on where people live, so the city schools are composed of racial minority students, while the suburban schools are composed of white students (79). Hartford’s schools have been racially divided since the 1970s, when school’s throughout the area were completely segregated on the first day. Over the next thirty years, the segregation would become even more prominent when 94 percent of children in the city would consist of racial minority groups (244). The racial segregation present in both the city and the suburbs makes the students in each type of school strongly aware of each other’s differences. On the way to a school in the suburbs, one of Miss Luddy’s students asked if the class is going to a white school (258).

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Professor Henry Gates visits the island divided in his very first episode of Black in Latin America. The island of Hispaniola hosts both the nations of Haiti and the Dominican Republic and have so for five centuries. The island was the first land in the Americas to import African slaves and from that point the two nations have shared the Massacre River, but nothing else. Haiti and Dominican Republic have two completely different cultural identities and this relates to the connections they have with their African ancestors. Professor Gates explores and compares both of these cultures and why they have so many differences, even though they are in very close proximity.

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The nlnlnlnlnlnlnlnlnlnlnlnlnlnlnlnlnlnlnlnlnlnlnlnlnlnlnlnlnlnlnl This gap in understanding points to a form of classism, where the intersection of economic oppression and racial oppression was not fully acknowledged, preventing a more comprehensive coalition. 2. What is the difference between a'smart' and a'smart'? How People Who Experience Oppression Can Contribute to Oppression June Jordan observes how Black Americans, despite their marginalized status, can contribute to the oppression of poorer Black people in the Bahamas. She

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The two stories illustrate that African-Americans are not given an equal chance in terms of gaining opportunities for a successful life. However, it may be possible that one key factor among all can develop a whole problematic image on success and why White Americans think of the African-American society as to not having the capability for a chance towards success. At the time, the economy could have been at a huge disadvantage for the African-Americans because majority of them did not have the chance to rise up from it in terms of creating revenue for themselves. The whole world around them built this image and it is hard to come out of when no one can give opportunities for them to improve and grow. Harlon L. Dalton expresses how unfair the

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Sarah leaving her family alone in a time of need begins Sarah’s growth. Sarah’s time away from home gets herself into Quakerism changing her religion

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This led to continued to tensions between not only the north and south but also the blacks and the whites in America. According to The Unfinished Nation, the per capita income of African Americans increase from about one-quarter to about one-half of the per capita income of White citizens (365). Sadly certain

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855 Words | 4 Pages

It was much harder to get an education as an African American because of the lack of having an available school near you or schools, or having a school that is sufficient for a proper education. Even if there was a school nearby, it would have less funding so there would be less materials that were of poor quality, not as well-maintained buildings, qualified staff etc. In some areas, African Americans were not allowed to use textbooks with the constitution or Declaration of Independence, so that the students wouldn’t get ideas that would lead them to wanting equality. This lack of an educational foundation made it even harder for African Americans to move up in a society that was already stacked against them, and it was almost impossible to achieve a life like white people. (Boyd, Natalie).

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In this era of colorblindness, it is not acceptable to talk about race nor class. Conversations about class, Alexander argues, tend not to be talked about because one tends to see class as a reflection of one’s character. With that, the premise of American ideology is the idea that if one can work hard enough it is guaranteed that one will make it—AKA meritocracy. Hence, when one does not have the “proper discipline” nor “drive” to move from the lower to upper class—it is a reflection of one’s moral character. Alexander maintains that what is missed in this debate is that Blacks are not free to move up at all; yes they also do not have the same opportunities and are plagued by poverty, but they are prevented by institutions to move up.

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In the documentary Who is Black in America, many teenagers as well as adults had a hard time identifying and accepting their “blackness”. However, others were very accepting and took pride in their “blackness” while others did not consider them black at all. Society has classified race into two categories. Either you are black or you are white.

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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.

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In watching the documentary of the Black Panther Party (movement) and how they were form to better the communities around them. The Government officials, FBI in particular infuriated to destroy them in light to keep power among the weaker individuals of society. The individuals happen to be of color (Blacks, Latinos, and Asians). I did however admire how the documentary portrayed black culture at that time. Despite the things that were occurring between law enforcement and the Black Panther party, blackness was promoted and people were proud to be black.

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Growing up in southwest Atlanta, Georgia, I have been surrounded by ‘black success’ instead of just ‘success’ for the duration of my life. The blacks in my area are equally as successful, if not more accomplished than, the non-blacks, but we are always titled separately and put into a captive box. The box we are held in told young girls that they should aspire to be athletes, cosmetologists, or plain unemployed. The same box told young men that they could only be considered “somebody” if they were able to catch a ball well. These are occupations we would ‘best be suited for’; these are occupations that perpetuate the box.

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Ethnicity and Hollywood Racism is always issues which take a huge part of American history. Until the twenty-first century, although people tried to make the country becomes the freedom and equality nation, these issues are still happening everywhere. According to "In Living Color: Race and American Culture," Stuart Hall argues that racism is still widespread in the society and "it is widely invisible even to those who formulate the world in its terms" (qtd. in Omi 683). Indeed, situations about race quietly exist in the movie industry, which "has led to the perpetuation of racial caricatures" to the majority audiences and even minority audiences (Omi 629).

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Du Bois said, “To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in land is very bottom of hardships” (“History.com”). This quote means that being a different race or color from most people can actually affect people in many different ways. (Complex) Although, many Americans in the Gilded Age dealt with segregation, which enriched their culture with their differences. Although, there were many contributors such as Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Ida B. Wells, who all dealt with hardships such as, lack of education and skills, basic civil rights, and lack of equality.

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(Lee 269). This shows conflict between classes because white people are giving black people a hard time. Black people were perceived as the lowest class and throughout the story people would treat them as if they were dirt. Being in the lowest class, they would have to do all of the terrible work. They never had a chance to get a good job and be successful because of the white people.

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