Hurston: A Victim Analysis

With so many attributes worthy of judging a person on, it is a damn shame that so often something as irrelevant as color has been a popular one. All things considered, its a pretty meaningless trait, just a matter of melanin, with the only real correlations being some hair and facial features. Still, to this day, it seems like race is becoming a more contentious issue than it has been in decades. Despite it being such an irrelevant aspect of what makes up ones character, it seems that we are not starting to cling to ideas of racial identitarianism. Its a problematic trend in my view, with its adherents seeming to range from well meaning but misguided to spiteful advocates looking for moral justification for their actions, the path we are on

Despite being born in a situation far worse than most any experience today she does something that seems almost foreign as a concept to today's advocates: she refuses to be a victim. Naturally she faced undue and unfair adversity when attempting to achieve her goals. How could she not, growing up in the turn of the twentieth century? She even admits it is the case, in her own way, by saying “The world to be won, and nothing to be lost. It is thrilling to think – to know that for any act of mine, I shall get twice as much praise or twice as much blame” (CITATION). She has nothing, so therefore nothing to lose. She has twice the amount of pressure to succeed, something that is blatantly unfair and unjust. But oddly, she is none the less empowered by it, simply due to her ability to change perspective. Even when she is discriminated against, her response is almost as shocking as it is delightful.

“How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company! It's beyond me.”(CITATION) And me as well, I'm almost sad I was born too late to meet a woman with such confidence and vibrancy. Her

It's a strong message, and whether she knew it or not it's one that Hurston seems to follow. Looking forward, I believe her message is one we must follow as well. Empowerment will not come from treating black men and women as victims of society, as is so common on the modern left. Nor will it come with the willingness to dismiss societal problems so common on the right. It can only come from creating a culture that teaches its children to be colorblind, and to fight against those who will aren't. It will come when we can go into the inner cities and find a way to give these children a chance to succeed, while creating a culture that values success over victimhood and selfdefeat. Both sides of the isle seem woefully off the mark, and the partisan squabbling is only reaching greater heights,

I'd like to pretend that I was optimistic of the future. I wish I could say that I believe in my lifetime that the philosophy of Hurston will be widespread, and we will see an end to racial tensions.