Relationships in Mississippi Masala and Persuasion Essay examples

In his essay, “The Souls of the Black Folk” Du Bois (1903) states that “the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line,-the relation of the darker to lighter races of men in Asia and Africa, in America and the islands of the sea” (275). According to Appelrouth and Edles (2012: 269) “the color line is both a preexisting social and cultural structure and an internalized attitude”. In addition, they explain that the color line “addresses the historical and institutional (i.e., colonial) dimensions of race” (269).

According to journalist Tionna Smalls, she exclaimed in her article entitled “Dark Skinned Vs. Light Skinned: The Black Man's Dilemma”, the slave owners would divide the slaves up by dark nigger and light nigger. The dark skinned slave would work on the plantation doing chores, picking cotton and nurturing the land. The light skinned slave would live in the plantation, cooking and taking care of the field masters children. Also the light skin female was admired by the master and even a sexual desire while the darker slave was treated like trash. Tionna goes on stating that after slavery the light skin female was put on a pedal stool in the family because being white was viewed as being right or pure, anything close to that was close to purity.

If a black woman had dark skin she would resemble a man, therefore making her ugly in society’s standards. This pressures black women to constantly be "compatible with the white female standard of beauty" (Ashe 580) in order to be socially accepted in society. Intuitively black women understood that in order to be considered desirable, the less black they had to look. This unfortunate perception of beauty stems from a long pattern of "sociohistorical racial injustices" (Bealer 312) towards darker skinned African Americans. Maria Racine states in her review that since slavery black people who approximated closer to whites were sexually sought after by black slave men and white plantation owners and were considered to live a somewhat "easy coexistence" because of their appearance (Racine 283). Since it’s start, colorism laid the pathway of racial prejudice towards dark skinned individuals. The result of treating dark African Americans as subhuman beings led to the altering of the black psyche by creating a "pervasive hierarchy" of beauty that black woman constantly combated or were forced to accept. (Bealer 312).

This is supported by the idea that race was determined by one’s environment, that was in turn determined by the color of one’s mother. (Williams, 2006) Olivia is of a white race, with both father and mother being white. She is happy and content with a privileged white life. Janet, on the other hand, is the daughter of a black maid and a white man. When Janet’s father died, his will was taken and hidden secretly by Polly Ochiltree, Olivia’s aunt. This meant that Mrs. Polly kicked the maid Julia and her daughter Janet out of the house. As a result, Janet is pronounced black and left nameless, with no money or hope looking towards the future. Despite Olivia’s opportunity to have whatever she desires, she is still jealous of Janet in some ways. For example, seeing Janet with her son, made Olivia fall into a fit of hysterics. As Miss Jane put it, “So ter-day,w’en Mis’ Livy wuz out ridin’ an’ met dis yer Janet wid her boy, an’ w’en Mis’ Livy got ter studyin’ bout her own chances, an’ how she mought not come thoo safe, she jes’ had a fit er hysterics right dere in de buggy.” (Chesnutt pg. 7). Throughout the entire novel, Olivia and Janet play this game of who is worth more on a personal level. Pre-Civil War, there were many free black men and women. Most of these women became mistresses to the white Creole men of New Orleans in a system called plaçage. The men would choose their mistresses at the Quadroon Balls. The Quadroon

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.

These derogatory terms were used against Tayo and Night Swan as they differed from the Laguna people. Tayo and Night Swan are rejected by the white and Native populations, and it is determined they are tainted or dirty compared to those ridiculing others. Night Swan says, “they think that if their children have the same color of skin, the same color of eyes, that nothing is changing,” which is why Auntie excludes Tayo from the family because of Tayo’s mother’s mistake to interact with white men (Silko 92). We see a change in this perspective in today’s society as we have interracial families, where race plays little to no part in determining a couple’s love for one another. However, we do still have families which believe their children should marry within the same race due to the fear of change within their own family.

In Conclusion , you can see how these three characters from the book were affected by racism. All of these situations were a tad bit different but you can see how they often got caught in the middle of what other people thought was right and what was really right. All humans should not be judge of their work ethic or ability to do something just cause of their skin color. We all live on the

In addition, people judge one another by their race. People have a tendency to stereotype each other. If you are black then automatically you are thought of as a potential criminal. If you are Mexican then people think you cannot speak English. Furthermore, it is commonly thought, by racist, that African American want to marry whites to improve their race. Even the white-trash women in the story thought this, “they’re going to stay here where they can go to New York and marry white folks and improve their color”

She shows racism within the characters of her novel. With this, she gives readers a truer understanding of how life was for African Americans even after slavery was over. There are four kinds of racism in the novel Song of Solomon: African Americans against whites, White against black, Black against black and Native American against African American. Morrison uses the conversation of her characters, the actions of her characters, and the emotions of her characters to show racism.

Many are unaware of the effects that race has played in their lives over the years. Some may not understand its implications, but are very oblivious to it. Race can influence such things like attitude and behavior. Nowadays being white or black means something more than just a Crayola color. No longer are they just colors, they are races with their own rules and regulations. People of color have been inferior to the white race for centuries. In their own way Zora Neale Hurston shows this concept in her story “How it feels to be Colored Me” as does Richard Wright in his autobiographical sketch “The Ethics of Living Jim Crow”.

An entire century has gone by and discrimination is still an issue faced by individuals with dark complexion. Reyita has felt these hardships her entire life so much that she chose to marry a white man to “improve the race by whitening”(5). This is similar to what we see nowadays with the current hot topic of immigration regulations. Immigrants from all across the world form fixed marriages to gain citizenship. This improves the livelihood of illegal immigrants in a similar manner that Reyita sought to improve the lifestyle of her future children; by trying to fix the “problem” of their skin color. The notion that the color of one's skin determines their status in the book Reyita, is a fascinating one that I believe is still around today.

Colorism is an issue amongst African Americans that is slowly disunifying the culture. The idea that is constantly reiterated in the African American community is that if you are light skinned you have a better job with more income, more successful, have more relationships, and are deemed less of a threat, essentially living the “best of both worlds”. If are darker skinned you are jobless or at a job that is not moving you into the future, less successful, passed by a potential mate, and is labeled as a common crook. The ideas about color pigmentation in the African American community all goes back to the original argument made numerous of times: “White is good, Black is bad”. Slavery is a primary reason why African Americans have this

Base on Trinidad and Tobago’s history, West Africans and Europeans both occupied land in Trinidad. The Africans were oppressed from embracing their culture as it was seen as evil or voodoo by the Europeans. The people were oppressed by the laws and policy implemented by the Europeans. The color of your skin as reflected in Lovelace’s literary work made it difficult for the Trinidadian to elevate their status in society. Those who elevate themselves in the educational system like Ivan Morton goes through the crisis of cultural identity and as a result reject his African ancestry and fail to assist his own people in achieving their freedom from the European power. Lovelace’s novel was very relatable and informative on the Orisha religion and precise on the persecution the Trinidadian people endured by the colonial

Rhys integrates the two characters and their racism so her readers will feel more connected with both. In the paper “Race, Creole, and National Identities in Rhys’ Wide Sargasso

The element of persuasion liking can be used in daily interactions with teachers and classmates by giving compliments to win my peers and teachers over. Just being myself can win anyone over seeing that I am very honest and up forward. This element can improve my ability to achieve my goals by helping meet people who are like myself, which will make it comfortable to seek help from them when I need it. When you can cooperate with others it gives you the ability to be able to communicate with people. Communication is very key when you are in a class setting. The ability to persuade others benefits my specific career considering that I am a very likeable person. People can’t help but to gravitate towards my energy. For example, a lot of the supervisor’s