Race In The Cyborg Manafesto, By Kurt Vonnegut

As it is pointing towards a racist view, that may not be the case as we must always double check and look into these points. I, in this essay will try to create an open view on both sides of the argument. Although I will depict both sides, I do have a perforation to one argument, which is the fact that it is a statement which was created from people over thinking the book. I am not saying it is a wrong statement, just that I do not agree with it.

Racism is a big part of this book. It shows the absurdity of what people thought back then, which is an important lesson. It is important for us to learn what people’s views used to be, and how important it is not to go back to that mindset.

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.

Reading the content in this book made me get a picture of what it was like to be a colored person in this time. My eyes were opened to the meaning of the word “nigga”. Nigga is such a derogatory term, yet now-a-days it is used by people so much. Kids in this generation use it as a term of endearment when they see their friends, or they say it when they are shocked by something. Frankly, I don’t believe they know how serious it really is. The fact that white people could look at a person and see less than a human being when they did nothing wrong distresses me. They (white people) treated them as if they were property and below them. Even though we don’t have racism to this extent

Both authors explore examples in which they are treated in a racist or discriminatory manner. Brent Staples encountered a younger woman and “came upon her late one evening on a deserted street… she cast back a worried glance… picked up her pace and was soon running in earnest.” (Staples 1) Just the mere sight of him made the woman scared, after this experience he feels “surprised, embarrassed, and dismayed all at once. Her flight made me feel like an accomplice in tyranny.” (2) He realizes that he is “indistinguishable from the muggers...” (2), or at least to the woman. Staples experiences, first hand, discrimination; the woman is fearful of him because of his race, and Staples feels the full effect of that. Gloria Naylor recounts the first time she was ever called the N-word. It was in class and she she says “she couldn’t have been more puzzled.” She “didn’t know what a nigger was,” but she did know “it was something he shouldn't have called” her (Naylor 3). She was thoroughly confused and later asked her mother what the word meant. Naylor is treated poorly due to the color of her skin. Similarly to Staples,

From the beginning when the African slaves first set foot on American soil, the Negro has been perceived as an inferior race. Unfortunately, the effects from slavery still take a hold of the Negro race even today. In this novel, Carter G. Woodson attempts to thoroughly explain why exactly this has come to exist. Although written years ago, the ideals in his book are still seen to be true. Woodson's theory is that because of the way the Negro is treated by the oppressor, he has been brainwashed to believe his inferiority to other races to be the truth. This in turn keeps him from trying to advance in any shape or form because he thinks that he will step out of his place. "When you control a

My final takeaway from the book is the idea that race is simply an artificial construct devised to divide the people of the world. The color of a person’s skin does not define their capabilities or who they are as a person. In fact, no true differences exist between white people and people of color. Race simply gives the dominant group in society a sense of superiority and power over the group they seek to

Throughout the novel it is apparent that everyday instances of racism occur, causing people of color to feel outcasted. There are two very obvious occasions where this happened. In the first instance two African American woman are in a workspace of primarily all white co-workers. When a woman they worked with got these two names mixed up, it was stated that she had a “fifty-fifty chance of getting it right” insinuating that these two women are the only black ones working here. Later, the woman who had the mix-up with the names wrote an apology note; however, in the note she stated it was “our mistake” and seemingly put part of the blame on the to women. This is a primary example of how African Americans can be thrown against a white background making them seem different than everyone else.

Abraham Joshua Heschel once said, “Racism is man’s gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.” In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, characters face many acts of racial discrimination growing up while living in the South during the 1930’s. In the novel Hurston shows how a racial caste system is formed. As the story progresses, the reader is able to see how the caste system affects different characters in different ways. This shows that even if people do not experience oppression in the same way as another, it doesn’t mean that they don’t bare the same weight, but might react to the weight differently.

Beverly Tatum incorporates the concept of White privilege into her writing to address the fundamental issues surrounding racism. In "Defining Racism," a chapter in Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria, Tatum defines racism as “a system of advantage based on race” (P.6) In an accurate and inoffensive way she illustrates racism and extends it beyond the individual, placing blame on the greater American social structure. Throughout the development of her definition she places great emphasis on the fact that racism, like sexism, is something exhibited by the dominant group (whites/men) upon the subordinate group (people of color/women). She does this to demonstrate the structured aspect of racism as an institutional norm and not necessarily something that is actively practiced by individuals. This approach is less offensive to whites and creates a context for self awareness

Tatum uses David Wellman’s definition of racism to set up the way racism is talked about in this book, however I mildly disagree with this definition.While I disagree with this part in her book I strongly agree with the idea that race she be talked about at a young age. In Tatum 's book she states, “He defines racism as a ‘System of advantage based on race’” (Tatum 7). This quote states that minorities cannot be racist because they do not benefit from past oppression which has helped form this system. I mildly disagree with this statement because there are several problems that arise from having this belief. However, I think this is wrong. Because there is a hierarchy in race, minorities who are farther up the line might benefit while other minorities who are “lower” on the line are further oppressed. By holding this concept as true, we ignore the fact that interminority racism exists. Due to the fact that this hierarchy has been formed over time certain minorities might find it easier to be accepted by the general population, and therefore, may benefit from their placement on the ladder of race. For example, an Asian minority

In the book, Dwayne looks down on women like Francine and black people like Wayne Hoobler. Dwayne also made use of many stereotypes for example “I thought of all of the people who come out here to visit their relatives in prison, and I realized how most of them was black , and I thought how much black people liked fried chicken” on page 163. This is a racist statement made by Wayne, he uses the stereotype of black people going to jail, black people liking fried chicken and also using the derogatory term. Right after this line, he also says another line using the derogatory term “nigger.” In PM America, racism is a problem that stems since the days of slavery and most likely even before that. In the 1900s, there were several civil rights movements which won them a lot of their rights such as the movement of Martin Luther King Jr. However, PM America still had a major problem with racism against people of African American origins. Vonnegut uses Dwayne to criticise the racism that exists within PM America. Within the novel, Dwayne is a symbol of madness and insanity (unnecessary), Vonnegut associates racism with Dwayne and his actions. Many of the racist situations that Dwayne finds him in are very

The man says something that the narrator does not like and tries to force an apology out of the man. This is what initiates the first part of racism and the thought of being invisible in the novel. The narrator endures the different types of racism through the different places he visits. Everyone expects something different of him and other African-Americans. This is how he tries finding his inner self and it just confuses him more because everyone wants something different. Another example of this is when the narrator is working for Liberty Paints in New York. The work force is primarily blacks, but the final product is white. This is ironic because their slogan is “If it’s Optic White, it’s the Right White.” There is also a sign outside of the building that reads “Keep America pure with Liberty Paints.” This is a form of racism in itself because they only produce white paint, and they say that they are keeping America pure. ”Our white is so white you can paint a chunka coal and you’d have to crack it open with a sledge hammer to prove it wasn’t white clear through” (Ellison 217). This is said by Lucius Brockway, an engineer at Liberty Paints. This can be seen as an extended metaphor between the paint making process that requires a black chemical to be added, and the whites vs. blacks at the company itself. The company seems to have primarily black workers producing the paint, but this quote goes to show that white is overpowering and that

As the machines reach the Badlands they find a naked, small, skinny man. When he turned to them ‘’Get me food, ’he croaked. “Yes Master,’’ said the machines. “Immediately!’’(Aldiss, 260). This proves that though the machines try to deny that they will never obey man and are willing to form their own society and will destroy those who oppose them. They are so used to following man’s orders that they reply automatically when the man croaks at them. It is in their nature to obey man and that is how they were created. They will always be dependent on human intelligence.

The book’s character’s main problem is finding individuality in racism. For the duration of the book, the narrator is constantly fighting racism and stereotypes. Ellison put many examples in the book to help show the character’s fight to be seen equal. Ellison shows that, through the character himself, that you can not tell people who to be. However, Ellison throws curves at the narrator that challenges