Literature And Everyday Life : Toni Morrison 's The Dark, And White Privilege And Male Privilege Essay

     Community is an important concern in both black and women's literature. The racist and patriarchal nature of American society, what Morrison refers to as the master narrative of our culture, places blacks and women and especially black women in a position of powerlessness and vulnerability. Communities serve as a protective buffer within which black women must function in order to survive. However both Hurston and Morrison identify and criticize how the patriarchal nature of the master narrative is present in black communities. The male-female hierarchy in the black community mirrors not only the patriarchy of the dominant white culture, but also the white-black

Furthermore, Biman Basu’s The Black Voice And The Language Of The Text: Toni Morrison’s Sula, investigates what he calls “one of the most significant developments in African American tradition…the formation of a class of intellectuals” (Article). More precisely, Basu is speaking of individuals like Morrison, who have not only broken down barriers for herself as a woman writer, but the others whom have followed in her footsteps to publish a rich tapestry of African-American literature. Furthermore, Basu’s investigates the conflict that arises when one class overtakes another stating that the conflict “on one hand, is between African-American and American Culture, and on the other, between this class of intellectuals and the ‘people’”(article).

It doesn’t take long to figure out that race and ethnicity issues continue to affect America - a quick glance at the news will show the latest riot, hate crime, or police brutality incident. This centuries old struggle has given rise to a number of literary works on the topic, many of which take a different approach to the issue. W.E.B. Du Bois, for instance, published the work The Souls of Black Folk in 1903, arguing for blacks’ right to equality in a horrifically segregated society. In these essays, Du Bois coined the term “double-consciousness,” wherein those with black skin must view the world both from their own perspective, and from the perspective of the predominately white society. The short story Recitatif by Toni Morrison explores this concept through the removal of the characters’ races, and the film Do the Right Thing, directed by Spike Lee, tells a story to demonstrate it. While the former shows double-consciousness through the usage of ambiguity, the latter almost directly references the concept. Taken together, these two sources argue a multi-faceted version double-consciousness, wherein society alienates the characters in ways that go beyond just the color of one’s skin.

“Representing Whiteness in the Black Imagination” written by American author, feminist and social activist, bell hooks, dissects the dichotomy of black and white culture in a westernized society. Hooks utilizes the term ‘whiteness’ throughout her piece as an acknowledgment of the domination, imperialism, colonialism, and racism that white people have asserted among black people. This discipline progressively has evolved from history; through slavery and forth, leaving an imprint in

Much of American Literature written in the 1900’s detail the experiences of race within America, being that slavery had only recently been abolished. Society in no way viewed African American’s as equal to white American’s. At this time, blacks were forced to fight to be viewed as a full person, worthy of basic human rights. Nella Larson’s Passing, and Amiri Baraka’s The Dutchman, both call attention to the racial tensions in a post Civil War America, by exposing the manipulation of the endemic racism within our culture, and the effect that it has on the way the African American community interacts within itself through the use of an extended metaphor.

Within Gloria Naylor’s “The Women of Brewster Place” and Amiri Baraka’s “Dutchman”, there is a heavy emphasis on society. Particularly how society influences interaction not just among African Americans, but interactions among whites and African Americans as seen is Baraka’s “Dutchman.” However, both novels also continue to portray a reoccurring theme that has been prevalent within this course, which is the struggle of African American’s in society.

Race and racial hierarchies are reinforced through the proliferation of a predominant, societal, white aesthetic and through the perceptions associated with physical characteristics. In The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison first illustrates the reinforcement of racial hierarchies through the proliferation of a predominant, societal white aesthetic by recounting passages from the Dick and Jane books, a standardization of family life. Next, “The Black Arts Movement” by Larry Neal demonstrates the reinforcement of racial hierarchies through the proliferation of a white aesthetic by discussing how Black culture, including Black art, is in danger if the white aesthetic is accepted by Black artists.

Within the texts of Toni Cade Bambara and James Baldwin, the connection between the history and the politics of African American literature is explicit. Both writers employ the use of a shared history to establish literature that forms solidarity. However, Bambara opts for a more optimistic outlook of the black woman in America. Through the short stories The Johnson Girls and My Man Bovanne, Bambara explores the camaraderie of women and the sexist nature of the newly formed Black Power movement. Whereas in Baldwin’s Previous Condition the protagonist, Peter, is consumed by epistemological pain and suffering. Thus, Baldwin’s short story remains a stagnant narrative as it reiterates the established discourse of the difficultly of being a black

“What is racism? Racism is a projection of our own fears onto another person. What is sexism? It’s our own vulnerability of our potency and masculinity projected as our need to subjugate from another person…” Gary Ross’s breakdown of the age-defying constructions of race and sexism exemplify how fabricated standards can take a toll on the well-being of individuals. American novelist Toni Morrison is renowned for her publications illustrating how racial stigma can dent a character physically, mentally and emotionally. “Sweetness”, an excerpt from God Help the Child, one of Morrison’s more recent works, follows the narrative of a guilt-stricken mother who allowed society’s predetermined notions of race interfere with her parenting, as her daughter was undeniably black while she and her husband have negro roots but are lighter skinned or ‘high-yellow’. As the story develops, it is obvious that the narrator, Lula Ann’s mother feels some sort of resentment for mistreating her child and holding her back from experiencing a blissful childhood like other youngsters, but is too shameful to admit it. With time, tables turn and Lula Ann, Lula Mae’s daughter is able to regain her self-esteem, moves away, builds a career, and is preparing to settle down with a family of her own and change her miserable fate given to her by her parents. Morrison successfully translates the destructive effects of prioritizing racial constructs through varied elements including: characterization, point of

Throughout history there have been many influential people that have made an effort to shape the future. In times of hardship and oppression, some present themselves as leaders and take action in changing the way society functions. This is because the individual shapes society. It is the people within a society that choose how things will be. E. M. Forester believes that love is not the solution to the world’s problems.

A child is a product of their environment. However, the label granted to the child is designated by the community and society in which the child inhabits. I, myself, am the product of a predominantly White society. The transparency and colorless pigment of the of the people that surrounded me was a blessing, but also a curse. I took refuge in the water-downed, flavorless editions of Civil Rights stories I was told, and for eighteen years, it seemed that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks were the only valid Civil Rights Movement Advocates. Although my knowledge of African American culture and history was fragmented and distorted as a child and young adolescent, the studies and in-depth discusses of my Introduction to African American Literature class awaken an understanding and heartfelt appreciation within me that I will forever treasure and utilize to analyze the struggles that African Americans continue to have for political, social and economic advancement.

In Black Feminist Thought, specifically the chapter “Black Feminist Epistemology,” Hill Collins argues that Black female experiences are often not regarded as knowledge and one can witness this phenomenon within these three texts. Hill Collins’ chapter opens with: “A small girl and her mother passed a statue depicting a European man who had bare- handedly subdued a ferocious lion. The little girl stopped, looked puzzled and asked, “Mama, something’s wrong with that statue. Everybody knows that a man can’t whip a lion.” “But darling,” her mother replied, “you must remember that the man made the statue” (251). At the core of this delightful anecdote is the central argument of power in regards to knowledge production—who has the power to make truth? She argues that Black female experiences are typically regarded as subjugated knowledge and that “traditionally, the suppression of Black women’s ideas within White- male-controlled social institutions led African-American women to use music, literature, daily conversations, and everyday behavior as important locations for Black female consciousness” (252). One must question then, how do traditions of storytelling and conversation become othered when attached to racial

Inspired by a conversation Morrison once had with an elementary school classmate who wished for blue eyes, the novel poignantly shows the psychological devastation of a young black girl, Pecola Breedlove, who searches for love and acceptance in a world that denies and devalues people of her own race. As her mental state slowly unravels, Pecola hopelessly longs to possess the conventional American standards of feminine beauty—namely, white skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes—as presented to her by the popular icons and traditions of white culture. Written as a fragmented narrative from multiple perspectives and with significant typographical deviations, ‘ The Bluest Eye’ juxtaposes passages from the Dick-and-Jane grammar school primer with memories and stories of Pecola’s life alternately told in retrospect by one of Pecola’s now-grown childhood friends and by an omniscient narrator. Published in the midst of the Black Arts movement that flourished during the late 1960s and early 1970s, ‘ The Bluest Eye’ has attracted considerable attention from literary critics—though not to the same degree as Morrison’s later works. With its sensitive portrait of African American female identity and its astute critique of the internalized racism bred by American cultural definitions of beauty, ‘ The Bluest Eye’ has been widely seen as a literary watershed, inspiring a proliferation of literature written by African American women about their identity and experience as women of

In Zora Neale Hurston’s article, “What White Publishers Won’t Print,” she examines systematic oppression effect on the portrayal of marginalized groups in literature. Hurston beings this article with acknowledging the lack of curiosity by white publishers to publish works that go beyond, the stereotypes, which are thrust upon marginalized groups of people. This issue is important because it cuts off the importance African Americans, Native Americans and other marginalize groups have in literature. Hurston provides criticism to publishing companies, but mostly to the public for the consistent approval of oppressive writings about marginalize groups in stereotypical behaviors.

Iyunolu Osagie discusses Morrison’s narrative as a product in “historical mythmaking” in her review Is Morrison Also Among the Prophets?: “Psychoanalytic” Strategies in Beloved. She incorporates Du Bois’s idea of “double consciousness”, the divided identity of African Americans as the way they see themselves and the way society sees them, as a strategy Morrison incorporates to re-narrate the history of slavery (Osagie). Through this double consciousness, Morrison creates a new narrative of what slavery means to the black