Uptown A Letter From Harlem Summary

From Color-Coded to Color-Blind In a world in where everything created is an equal masterpiece of G-d, discrimination ought not to exist. Therefore, the cruelty inflicted upon the black nation throughout the slavery era left a tarnished reputation in the history of the United States. Although the 13th amendment abolished slavery in 1865, it did little in terminating the agony that African Americans suffered in this so called glorious country. As a result, in the early 1900s, many blacks put pen to paper to record the heinous torture endured and to leave memoirs for the future generations. Essays like, On Being Crazy by W. E. B. Du Bois, Graduation by Maya Angelou and Fifth Avenue, Uptown: A Letter from Harlem by James Baldwin, instill in

Throughout Baldwin's recount of life in Harlem, constant reminders regarding the significance of their color repulsed the blacks. Thus, black people lashed out by doing dangerous and undignified acts to get a point across, a call for equality. Correspondingly, De Bois, in his essay, portrays the same point; yet, he goes about it through a satirical method that leaves the attacker abashed and speechless. In contrary, Angelou allows the aggression of the white people to bury her in depressing thoughts to the point where she wishes that Nat Turner slaughtered all of the white society and that Columbus never discovered America. Hence, she feels no desire in living if she cannot feel human. Despite all of the abuse, black people continuously fought for their equal inclusion to mankind, calling for an end to this

Although only the south implemented these laws, its ideology manifested to the north as well and subconsciously formed divisions. In Baldwin's article, one can clearly see the harsh living conditions that black residents were forced to inhabit. Albeit the white people took small measures to improve the environment, the blacks resented it as if it were merely a band-aid concealing a wound. Understandably, the only thing that would please them would be an unbiased incorporation in the human society. From an individual perspective, Du Bois's creates a low-leveled accomplishment to the meaning of quote III with a minor breakthrough in the mentality of segregation. While engaging in a conversation with an aggressor, the white man used the word "we," which incorporated a black and a white man in one context. To reference from the story, Du Bois said: " Either you are crazy or I am," and the white man replied, "We both are." Further, in Angelou's essay, quote 3 presents the resentful feelings that black people had towards the white people and the fact that it will continue to exist until the destruction of segregation. As graduation day approaches, emotional and exciting feelings towards the big moment engulf Angelou. Nevertheless, as Donleavy's official words of praise subconsciously