Nadine Gordimer 's Country Lovers

Black South Africans were forced to live a life that was forced upon them. In the document, A timeline of South African History, Africans were forced to do dangerous jobs and were paid far less than a White worker (Doc. #1). This shows that

The stereotypes in the story, makes it difficult for the readers to conclude the race of each character. People assume that the African American character would be illiterate and uneducated and the white character to be well-educated. During the time period of the story African Americans did not have access to a decent education; making it harder for them to learn just the basics. Whites had access to good education, making it easy to believe the white character is more educated. It is also believed that a person that is well educated will have a better lifestyle when they are older. A well-educated person will have a better job, paying more, and have a better opportunity to afford the means of a luxurious lifestyle. An under educated person will most likely live in poverty, struggle for their basic needs, or live in a declining neighborhood. Behavior is a harder stereo type to use to distinguish a race. Many assume that whites have an entitled attitude toward life. Whites had access to a good education and jobs, they had a “I’m better than you” attitude. On the other hand, many think African Americans were upset because of how easy it was for whites to have better access to the basic necessities such as education and housing.

The black characters in the novel are all victims of this “separate but equal” mentality; the younger characters yearn for real equality and the older characters have settled in to their lives by accepting their “fate.” The existing structures of society in Bayonne, Louisiana prevent black characters such as Grant Wiggins and Vivian from ever breaking out of their social class; both are forced to remain in their lives as teachers of young black children who will also grow up to live limited lives. Wiggins says of his classroom, “I’m the teacher... and I

In the reading, Jones explores the relationship between class, race, and gender. She states that African Americans, in general, are oppressed, however, black women

In 1879 Thousands of African Americans migrate out of south to escape oppression. There was a better way life and opportunities in the industrialized North and in the West. African American weren’t taught to read so their job opportunities were limited. White people believed teaching blacks to read would hold blacks back. They were forced to be home makers (maids for white people) or

Class disparities serve to isolate the impoverished from the bourgeois, this alienation exists because of class but Davis seeks to create this division by race. For example Hugh is worn down and “blackened by his hard labor.

Throughout the book, Conley discusses elements of race and class based on his own experiences. He has an advantaged perspective in that his parents have been living in the southern part of town before he was born, making it so that his parent’s previous experiences also shape his view. He discusses race and class, declaring the statement that “race and class are nothing more than a set of stories we tell ourselves to get through the world, to organize reality.” (pg.7) What he means by ‘organizing reality’ connects to the concept of racial hierarchy as well the social distance scale. Although Conley’s parents aren’t the wealthiest white people, their black and Hispanic neighbors felt the need to stay away from them. Because of their skin color, they felt a gap between themselves. Conley’s parents were not racist but because

The book/author both add to the conversations we had in class. For example: how blacks had no freedom, worked for whites and were mistreated. They were not paid well, so many of them were poor. They as well had sharecropping. Including the civil rights movement.

“‘...There’s four kinds of folks in the world. There’s the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there’s the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes,’” (Lee 302). In To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem argues for the act that the poorer people in town were different because of how much money they had. Many people agreed and held a predetermined idea that people were different because of their social class. Class issues such as social prejudice occur in both To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. A person’s social class can largely affect how they are treated in society and what they can or cannot do.

The Class Looking Glass Questions About Society and Class 1. How is race generally linked to class? Do white people occupy a higher class than black people? Which characters provide exceptions to the general rule? Classes have always been formed, no matter the skin color or wealth of a region.

Nadine Gordimer’s “What were you dreaming?” is known to be a very sensitive, open account of her private and social relationship in South Africa. Gordimer witnessed the difference between the white minority, and their continuous efforts to weaken the rights of the black population. Gordimer made it her duty to promote the consequences of the apartheid, the problems that oppression inflicts on both the colonized (settled) and the colonizers (immigrants), its effect on daily life, and the division it caused between the black and white races. As a result, she wrote the short story, “What were you dreaming?” to show the readers her view, not explain it.

The first chapter, The Rebirth of a Caste, argues that after the Civil Rights movement and with the collapse of Jim Crow in the south, there needed to emerge a new caste system. Alexander argues that racism was created to fulfill particular ends; the profits of the planter class. “Deliberately and strategically, the planter class extended special privileges to poor whites in an effort to drive a wedge between them and black slaves. White settlers were allowed greater access to Native American lands, white servants were allowed to police slaves through slave patrols and militias, and barriers were created so that free labor would not be placed in competition with slave labor. These measures effectively eliminated the risk of future alliances between black slaves and poor whites. Poor whites suddenly had a direct, personal stake in the existence of a race-based system of

South Africa felt the influence from a multitude of European nations before finally becoming a colony of England in the early nineteenth century. While the European population remained minute, they controlled a vast share of the wealth after manipulating the black population leaving most in poverty. Consequently, this system led to situations erupting into violence as the black population demanded equality in all aspects. Some of the Europeans were supportive of the black movement, but many lived in segregated areas and were blissfully ignorant of black’s conditions. Despite the violence depicted amongst the whites and blacks of South Africa, in Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton reconciliation and the spirit of unity present

Many of the contemporary issues in South Africa can easily be associated with the apartheid laws which devastated the country. The people of South Africa struggle day by day to reverse “the most cruel, yet well-crafted,” horrific tactic “of social engineering.” The concept behind apartheid emerged in 1948 when the nationalist party took over government, and the all-white government enforced “racial segregation under a system of legislation” . The central issues stem from 50 years of apartheid include poverty, income inequality, land ownership rates and many other long term affects that still plague the brunt of the South African population while the small white minority still enjoy much of the wealth, most of the land and opportunities

Next, I’d like to discuss the ways in which the conditions of “Living, Loving, and Lying Awake at Night,” and the roles that were plagued amongst the women in South Africa and how forced migrations affected their situations. Due to the Apartheid era, and men's non existence in their families life because of forced migration, women began to feel as though they could only do for themselves causing for their acceptance without man's presence. In an early reference to the chapter, leaving, the author shows the ways that apartheid affected the women. For instance, “As year went from the woman had come to