African Speaks Analysis

“Native Son” composed by Richard Wright was revolved into an American drama picture in 1986 by director Jerrold Freeman. This piece caused a lot of controversy on whether the protagonist, Bigger Thomas, is guilty or innocent in the unfortunate events that have occurred. The purpose of this argumentative essay is to examine Richard Wright’s film adaptation of Native Son and prove his innocence based on how society deceived and deprived African Americans, his living and social environment, and his fears.

and Epistemology”, says that an outsider to a culture or a way of life can still learn and teach about the culture (571). Not only does this mean that anybody can be immersed into African cultures, but also, within the African cultures, men can still publish artistic works about women and vice versa. Even though women do have positive portrayals in many films, there is often

In "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness," Chinua Achebe criticizes Joseph Conrad for his racist stereotypes towards the continent and people of Africa. He claims that Conrad propagated the "dominant image of Africa in the Western imagination" rather than portraying the continent in its true form (1793). Africans were portrayed in Conrad's novel as savages with no language other than grunts and with no "other occupations besides merging into the evil forest or materializing out of it simply to plague Marlow" (1792-3). To Conrad, the Africans were not characters in his story, but merely props. Chinua Achebe responded with a

Idi Amin, holding military power and eventually acquiring the position of head of state in Uganda in the mid-late twentieth century, is recognized as one world’s most notorious leaders and is believed to be responsible for the deaths of one hundred thousand-five hundred thousand human rights individuals. Amin’s rule is characterized by nepotism, ethnic persecution, and much corruption. During Amin’s rule, he was also responsible for expelling the Indian culture by demanding all individuals of the nationality to leave the continent of Africa. Mississippi Masala, released in 1991 and directed by Mira Nair, tells the story of an Indian family that fleeted Africa to the United States during the reign of Amin. While the plot concentrates on the morals, beliefs, and portrayals of the Indian culture during that particular time frame, it does so through the up’s and down’s of the romantic relationship between Meena, whose family migrated from Africa to the United States, and Demetrius, an African American carpet cleaner who was born and raised in Mississippi. The couple’s relationship is greatly scrutinized by Mina’s family as well as society; however, the end of the film reveals that one’s skin color does not speak to the content of their character.

A verbal feature Melfi uses to show the themes of sexism and racism is dialogue. This use of this verbal feature helps establish Theodore Melfi’s true intention for this film that sexism and racism is hard to abolish. For example, when Katherine Johnson expresses her frustrations to her boss Mr. Harrison by saying; “Lord knows you don’t pay the coloured enough to

This refers to the District Commissioner's chosen title for a book he has written that would have the African people, the Igbo tribe specifically, as the main subject. From the title itself, one can say that the writer has an unfavorable bias against his subject. But come to think of it, there are many factors why it would be impossible for the District Commissioner to write an accurate description of the culture he's trying to write about. How can he do so when he knows very little

Conrad neglects to write native dialogue, which suggests that the Africans are not educated enough to have anything important to contribute to the plot. During the few moments where the natives do speak, they discuss topics which continue to show their savage nature.

This movie was made in 1953 when Indigenous people were being thrown into residential schools and having their land taken away from them. At the time of production, the producers felt that there was nothing wrong with film because during that period of time racism was a part of everyday life. In order to get a better understanding of these problems within the film I had to watch it. After watching the film, I was shocked at how much racism and sexism was a part of the film. Directors often degrade minority groups by portraying them a certain way so they are not put in the same category as the main characters. The imagery is in movie portrayed indigenous people in a negative manner. In one of the scenes, an Indian chief is shown yelling and making animal noises. This scene is unacceptable as it leads the audience to perceive Indigenous people as illiterate. Moreover, the scene dehumanizes the Indian Chief by portrayed him as an animal rather than a human. This contributes to the major problem of dehumanization because if the Chief is portrayed as an animal the audience is less connected with him therefore the racism did not seem that serious. When kids watch this movie, they take all of this in and it sticks with them so when they do see an Indigenous person in the outside world, they view them as animals instead of actual human beings.

Stokely Carmichael gave his most famous speech on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley in 1966. His speech, “Black Power,” addresses the issue of black racism in America and gives strategies for advancing black civil rights. His use of ethos, logos, and pathos is successful in getting the audience to engage and connect with his speech.

Although some nations believed in the eventual possibility of Africans assimilating into their culture and society, such as France and their idea of Africans becoming “Black Frenchmen”, colonial Africa was largely a hotbed for discriminatory attitudes and actions against black Africans. The racist practices of European colonists and imperial European countries became part of everyday life for both Europeans in Africa and the native Africans themselves, so much so that these prejudicial positions were relayed through both African and European literature. In the short stories Crackling Day by Peter Abrahams and The Old Chief Mshlanga by Doris Lessing, the young characters are taught racism and prejudice through social interaction which

Within her speech, Ms. Adichie showcases her knowledge of international understanding and its consequences by appealing to her audience's sense of pathos and ethos. Adichie focuses on appealing to her audience’s sense of pathos to encourage emotional understanding. For example, she shares with us a conversation she once had with a professor, who “told [her] that [her] novel was not authentically African” because the characters “drove cars” and “were not starving”. She tells us about how she “did not know

The videos from this class have portrayed Africans in a variety of ways, from simply victims of catastrophe, to an independent people that are working to improve themselves despite the adversity they face. These portrayals create different pictures of Africa for the viewer and some can create and reinforce a possibly negative stereotype that hurts Africa as a whole. Many times when Africa is portrayed to international audiences, particularly America, it is made to fit into preconceived notions that people have about Africa and Africans. It is in this way that people merely project their desires of what they want Africa to be onto representations of Africa in videos, documentaries, and films about African struggles.

Some would say the western world has always had a flawed view or understanding of Africa and African cultures. The author of Things Fall Apart; Chinua Achebe once wrote a paper on Joseph Conrad's “Heart of Darkness” and how it had a negative impact on the readers. He notes how “Heart of Darkness” sets up Africa as a foil to Europe and how this affecting a new generations view of Africa. In the paper he references some of the experiences he’s had with the so-called “ignorance” of the western word; “The young fellow from Yonkers is obviously unaware that the life of his own tribesmen in Yonkers, New York, is full of odd customs and superstitions and, like everybody else in his culture, imagines that he needs a trip to Africa to encounter

Growing up as a child in America I was always easily amused by cartoons that played on the television during the early 2000’s and late 1999’s. By far one of my most watched movies was Tarzan, which sometimes played during the weekends on the Disney channel, it’s very much entertaining to watch this old version of Tarzan directed by W.S. Van Dyke. In the film Tarzan “the Ape Man”, Jane Parker derives to Africa to visit her father, who was in a pursuit for ivory, Tarzan captures Jane and once the preliminary terror has worn off, Jane apprehends that she adores Tarzan and that jungle life suits her. This take on the modern day Tarzan opened my eyes to a much more realistic perspective of race perception with the sociological abnormality of behavior mixed in one. It’s highly unrealistic, however to see a white man grow up in jungle exhibiting masculinity characteristic intertwined with Ape behavior, but this is very much the central plot focus of the short film. A character must first and foremost be able to identify themselves with their surroundings, but most importantly within themselves as well, this film displays a broad mixture of cultural American imperialism and like every other film previously viewed throughout the course, shows the predominant race as being the white individuals while Blacks are being frowned upon and in the film’s case, taken another look at. The opening of the film also leaves one to assume that African Americans were principally treated as

The experiences of a young girl and her family as they are relocated the height of war are chronicled in Nadine Gordimer’s “The Ultimate Safari”. Set during the incredibly turbulent time of the Apartheid in South Africa, this short story addresses the issue of racial divide within a single area. Throughout the text, the author makes use of parallels between black people and animals, and white people and hunters, as well as variations on use of the word “ultimate” in the text to illustrate the schism between the rich Caucasians and the poor black people, making apparent through this the inferiority of the latter.