The Watsons Go to Birmingham, by Christopher Paul Curtis

In Chapter 4 of his book, which is aptly titled “Postwar Passions”, Daniels chooses to focus on the experiences of African-Americans in the post-WWI era, specifically focusing on race riots that occurred during the “Red Summer” of 1919. (104) There is a long-standing history of racial discord between whites and African-Americans, but the post-WWI years are a unique time. It has been more than fifty years since slavery has been abolished, but it will still take another forty plus years before discrimination on the basis of race is made illegal in America. Industrialization after the turn of the century and blatant racism in the South led to the migration of millions of African-Americans to northern

On the hundredth anniversary of the Emancipation, James Baldwin writes a letter to his nephew regarding identity as a black man in 1960’s America. Using a wide range of rhetorical devices, the writer attempts to convince his vulnerable relative to believe he is forever loved. In “My Dungeon Shook” from The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin, the author presents a unique rhetorical strategy which uses comparison and description to reach the main goal of helping the reader focus on the most important points of the writing. The grand design for this section of the novel allows Baldwin to accomplish the purpose by addressing the American citizens in 1963 in order to inform them how black and white people cannot have equal opportunities until the Caucasians recognize their crimes and African-Americans lovingly forgive their previous oppressors.

Hatred for white society was a strong theme among the African American community during the 1950s. These emotions were conveyed through different platforms of the time, ranging from art and music, to articles and books. But James Baldwin, a popular African American writer during this time period, does not obsess over this subject that was so passionately conveyed by so many people like him. Instead of preaching about his hatred for white America, Baldwin utilizes his story of his childhood as well as his early adulthood to illustrate the destructive nature of the African Americans society’s hatred for white society in the very well known essay, “Notes of a Native Son.”

A compelling, powerful re-creation of the hostile environment that was Florida in the early twentieth century, Peter Matthiessen, the naturalist and explorer, brings much of these elements to his novel Killing Mister Watson. He writes about the natural world and the individuals who must struggle to survive the elements. The main focal point of the novel is Edgar J. Watson, a real historical figure who killed the female outlaw Belle Starr. Killing Mister Watson is told by the people who knew Watson, and the characters speak in their natural dialect. Matthiessen knows how to weave in factual material and has created a wonderful sense of place. The novel is dynamic in the sense that it is more than mere imagination; it is an American

James Baldwin 's and Brent Staples ' situations differ in the types of racism they encountered with conjunction to the time period. On one hand, Baldwin experienced the Jim Crow Era (50-71). Jim

The Watsons, could it become an allegory? The historical fiction novel, The Watsons Go To Birmingham 1963, by Christopher Paul Curtis, is a story that is about a typical African American family who goes to Alabama during the Civil RIghts Movement, and are exposed to racism. Because of the events that happened in Birmingham, the Watsons change. The change that happens in the Watsons is typical of the change that happens in America. This was seen when Kenny dealt with the bombing at Joey’s church, on page 188,”It’s yours, Joey, I got it from the Wool Pooh.”

The historical fiction novel,The Watsons go to Birmingham 1963, by Christopher Curtis is a story about the racism in the world and about a family who slowly gets exposed to it. The Watsons is similar to America during the 1960 because they both change. This can be seen throughout the novel when Kenny and Byron are faced with difficult events. Many families were not aware of racism in other parts of America.

There have been many cases of social injustice on a number of occasions in the expansive history of the United States. The oppressions of the early movements for women’s suffrage and the relocation and encampment of Native Americans are two of many occurrences. Around the middle of the 20th century, a movement for equality and civil liberties for African Americans among citizens began. In this essay, Notes of a Native son James Baldwin, a black man living in this time, recalls experiences from within the heart of said movement. Baldwin conveys a sense of immediacy throughout his passage by making his writing approachable and estimating an enormous amount of ethos.

There is no intelligence and no forgiveness behind the outrage of a slave?s ancestor, which is what Baldwin refuses to let the reader forget.

“When, beneath the black mask, a human being begins to make himself felt one cannot escape a certain awful wonder as to what kind of human being it is.”(4). In his essay, “Stranger in the Village”, James Baldwin writes about the major differences that African Americans experience in Europe and America. Throughout the essay, Baldwin describes how the Europeans are naive about the black man. The outrage and amusement that Baldwin feels throughout his visit causes the overwhelming realization of the history of the African American.

The racial divide within America has been ingrained within societal constructs throughout the history of the country. Although tensions certainly still persist, it is clear that the severity of oppression was not only maximal, but also an accepted paradigm within the South during the first two centuries post-independence. Ironically, a nation established to bring liberties to all had no problem discriminating and enslaving an entire race. Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin is a short story which explores this phenomenon, delving into the introspections of Jesse, a rampantly racist Southern sheriff. The subjectivity of what is “right”, a learned concept, provides readers an account of the rationale individuals must have relied on in

When he meets the man hired to be replacement at the bar the young man expresses to him that he plans to join the diversity committee to make a difference. Jaynes replies to him saying “You’re not fighting Whiteness, you’re feeding its perversion” (20). While some feel as though things such as diversity committees are put into place to help erase the racial lines that divide American cultures, if these committees prove to be stagnate and unproductive they are really just keeping the systems segregated. It is easy to say that you have a “diversity committee” but if it is not actively trying to fight against segregation and focusing on all Americans being viewed as one instead of as different subsets, the committee becomes useless. Instead of the diversity committee representing change, it is aiding in pathology of Whiteness. Johnson takes Morrison’s argument past simply identifying that Whiteness is still very much dominate in literature today and focuses on ways that we are still helping it to exist. He challenges the reader to identify the roles they are taking in keeping this “impenetrable whiteness” alive and helps them see that they are too affected by the pathology of Whiteness. Johnson challenges the readers by addressing the very thing that they do to try to make a change is what is holding

   In the early twentieth century black American writers started employing modernist ways of argumentation to come up with possible answers to the race question. Two of the most outstanding figures of them on both, the literary and the political level, were Richard Wright, the "most important voice in black American literature for the first half of the twentieth century" (Norton, 548) and his contemporary Ralph Ellison, "one of the most footnoted writers in American literary history" (Norton, 700). In this paper I want to compare Wright's autobiography "Black Boy" with Ellison's novel "Invisible Man" and, in doing so, assess the effectiveness of their conclusions.

In the text, David l Russell emphasizes the important of racial equality by providing the story “ The Watsons Go to Birmingham”. This story takes place in the middle of the civil rights movement. During this time segregation is still a major part of everyday life. At this time African Americans where fighting for their right, because they deserved the same capabilities as any other race. White people where not excited about this change and they reacted in violent ways to express how they felt. An example the book gives of this is when the white people reacted with violence towards the African American girls at Sunday school.

In this paper I argue that in Walter Mosley's White Butterfly, Mosley uses the detective genre to counter stereotypes and myths regarding black masculinity. Mosley uses the protagonist Easy Rawlins to restore the image of the black man in America and to give readers a better understanding of black men in America. Easy Rawlins in many aspects can be seen as a role model. The book was published in 1992 and the setting is 1956, in Watts, Los Angeles California. A few years into the Civil Rights movement where blacks are struggling for equality.