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Hurston's Essay: How It Feels To Be Colored

787 Words4 Pages

In today’s world, the topic of race is evaded. It’s not talked about because we all assume that we have progressed from segregation. That now we do not focus on skin color as much as the early 1900’s.But those are false thoughts, or a thought that we have not accomplished to its entirety. The ones that suffer from this silent attack are the African Americans. Our society perceives African Americans negatively thus inflicting pressure on their daily lives. Anywhere in America, if you ask an African American if they feel pressured by society, most of them would say yes. They have everyone’s attention for everything they do. Some may take the attention they get as a good thing as Zara N. Hurtson does in her essay, “How It Feels to Be Colored.” She states that “it is quite exciting to hold the center of the national stage.” She finds it exciting because either she’ll get rewarded for succeeding or critized harshly for her actions. Unlike her white counterpart, who if successful is expected to but if failed they are expected to do …show more content…

Staples says that he feels that he has “the ability to alter public space in ugly ways.” He causes people to cross the street, to speed up and to feel uncomfortable but not because he’s a bad person, but just because of his skin color. He experiences being categorized as a suspicious being. He’s had to put aside comfort of jeans for work attire and began “whistling melodies from Beethoven and Vivaldi” for pedestrians to feel less tense and scared of him. He’s had to make himself more approachable in order for others to feel safe around him. Staples states that “everybody seems to sense that a mugger wouldn’t be warbling bright, sunny selections from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.” That by him humming or whistling famous composer he is distinguished from criminals that are out at

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Staples expresses his argument with real life experiences that have caused him to be stereotyped as a black male. People often think black males are “thugs”, “muggers”, or “rapist”, Staples points out that not all blacks fall under this category, especially him. Staples was first stereotyped when he was out walking at night (because this is what he likes to do) and comes across a white female who perceived him as a mugger or a rapist. This is when he realizes that he was “indistinguishable from the muggers who occasionally seeped into the area”( Pg.301 Para. 2). Staples comes to the conclusion that “being perceived as dangerous is a hazard itself” (Pg. 301 Para.)

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Zora Hurston uses vivid imagery, natural diction, and several literary tools in her essay “How It Feels to Be Colored Me”. Hurston’s use of imagery, diction, and literary tools in “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” contributes to, and also compliments, the essay’s theme which is her view on life as a “colored” person. Throughout “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” Hurston carefully incorporates aspects of her African American culture in an effort to recapture her ancestral past. Hurston’s use of imagery, diction, and use of literary tools shape her essay into a piece of Harlem Renaissance work. Imagery in “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” is quite abundant.

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I was surprised, embarrassed, and dismayed all at once,” he writes to admit that he’s harmless. Staples effectively persuades his readers to believe that not all black men are harmful. He wants to make more people comfortable around him and less of a negative stereotype. By acting the opposite of a thug that many [white] people make up the conclusion to be, Staples changes his behavior in a way to protect himself because he’s percieved as a thug that could potentially made him a target and a danger to those around him and to himself. Staples concludes in his essay that thugs wouldn’t be “whistling a bright, upbeat from Vivaldi’s Four

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He gave the example of when he was walking, a girl saw him and watched him closely. She ended up running away from him (Staples 1). He had to walk past an entrance of a building to let skittish people in so that they wouldn’t think that he was following them, “If I happen to be entering a building behind some people who appear skittish, I may walk by, letting them clear the lobby before I return, so as not to seem to be following them.” (Staples 3). When Brent was on the subway or walking late at night he would hum or whistle a common classical song.

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