preview

Race in Down These Mean Streets Essay

Good Essays

Qing Xu
HCOM 345
Prof. Nava
5/2/12
Race in Down These Mean Streets “Éste es un mundo brillante, éstas son mis calles, mi barrio de noche, con sus miles de luces, cientos de millones de colores mezclados con los ruidos, un sonido vibrante de carros, maldiciones, murmullos de alegría y de llantos, formando un gran concierto musical (Thomas, Down These Mean Streets, 1998, p. 3)”, is how Piri Thomas describes his birthplace, East Harlem. The diversity of cultures, the vibrant street life, the passion and conflicts of everyday life and media portrayal in movies such as West Side Story make East Harlem an exciting and mysterious place. But hidden under the dirty faces of the children is the struggle in the search for acceptance and belong, …show more content…

as a result of U.S. imperial invasion and colonization of the island. They became one of the most impoverished groups and were “systematically perceived and treated as a conquered people (Oquendo, 1998, p. 70)” Puerto Ricans could sometimes pass as whites, like Piri’s family did. However, Piri was treated badly by the school, public transportation, workplace and the government. In an interview conducted by Ilan Stavans, he recalled that in the classroom the “teacher came roaring upon me and said ‘listen, stop talking in that language [Spanish],’ and I said ‘well, I am speaking my mother’s language. My mother’s from Puerto Rico, I was born in this country,’ and she says ‘well you stop talking that, you have to learn English, you are in America now.’ (Thomas, Race and Mercy: A Conversation with Piri Thomas, 1996, p. 345)” He also recalled going to the South with his friend Billy on a bus. The driver ordered all colored people to go sit in the back. When Piri tried to tell the driver that he was Puerto Rican, the driver said, “I don’t care what kind of nigger you are” and reached his hand into his side pocket. To avoid the risk of being killed, he quietly went to the back of the bus (Thomas, Race and Mercy: A Conversation with Piri Thomas, 1996, p. 351). In a chapter of his book titled “How to Be a Negro without Really Trying,” Piri recalls another occasion where he and his fair skinned friend Louie went to a job interview for a sales position. The company hired

Get Access