The Groundings With My Brothers Summary

“I began thinking about the fact that I stand in the middle of two opposing forces in the Negro community. One is a force of complacency, made up in part of Negroes who, as a result of long years of oppression, are so drained of self-respect and a sense of ‘somebodiness’ that they have adjusted to segregation; and in part of a few middle class Negroes who, because of a degree of academic and economic security and because in some ways they profit by segregation, have become insensitive to the problems of the masses. The other force is one of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously close to advocating violence. It is expressed in the various black nationalist groups that are springing up across the nation, the largest and best-known being Elijah Muhammad’s Muslim movement. Nourished by the Negro’s frustration over the continued existence of racial discrimination, this movement is made up of people who have lost faith in America, who have absolutely repudiated Christianity, and who have concluded that the white man is an incorrigible ‘devil’”.

He wants his readers to imagine the pain and humiliation of the ill treatment that African Americans endure on a daily basis. King writes of vicious mobs lynching people’s mothers and fathers, policemen killing people’s brothers and sisters, a man and his wife not receiving the proper respect they deserve because of their skin color, and the notion that African Americans feel insignificant within their communities; this is why these peaceful demonstrators of whom the clergymen attack “find it difficult to wait” (King, 20). However, King believes that soon, injustice will be exposed, like “a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up” (King, 30). This vivid description helps arouse an emotional response, driving shame into the hearts of his white readers.

The black race has faced many hardships throughout American history. The harsh treatment is apparent through the brutal slavery era, the Civil Rights movement, or even now where sparks of racial separation emerge in urbanized areas of Baltimore, Chicago, and Detroit. Black Americans must do something to defend their right as an equal American. “I Am Not Your Negro” argues that the black race will not thrive unless society stands up against the conventional racism that still appears in modern America. “The Other Wes Moore” argues an inspiring message that proves success is a product of one’s choices instead of one’s environment or expectations.

John Lewis initiates his claim by conveying that everyone in America should not tolerate racial segregation nor discrimination. In order to reach to his point, he uses the rhetorical device, pathos, in which it causes the “white” audience to feel remorse for what society has become. To illustrate this idea, Lewis reveals African Americans “live in constant fear of a police state”, “have been arrested on trumped charges”, and some faced “the death penalty for engaging in peaceful protest” (paragraph 2). The evidence highlights that they are going through hardships caused by the federal government because they are considered “inferior” compared to the “white” race. From this, readers can infer that white supremacy is being marked on the walls. Lewis is able to awaken Americans so they can realize how their actions are wounding African Americans. In addition, Lewis is representing the African American community so they can feel inspired to join the Civil Rights Movement. Possibly the speaker is trying to drag the African Americans out of their state of oblivion by incentivizing them to defend their rights. Lewis is addressing the problems to both audiences so they can feel the urge to fix them. Therefore, Lewis’ remarks in the first paragraph reveal that he identifies with the concerns of African Americans and how whites, mainly activists, should focus on addressing their issues.

The life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination… the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land (qtd. in W.T.L. 235).

The struggle for equality and the battle to have one’s suppressed voice be heard is prevalent throughout the history of the United States. The Native Americans, women, and even Catholics have all encountered discrimination and belittlement in one shape or form, which eventually urged individuals within those groups to rise up and demand equal opportunity. As the United States began to shift away from slavery, one of the most deep rooted, controversial dilemmas aroused- what do black people need to do in order to gain civil rights both economically and socially? Booker T. Washington’s “Atlanta Exposition Address” and W.E.B. Du Bois's “The Soul of Black Folks” were pieces of writings influenced by the puzzle that black people were left to solve. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois had contrasting ideas, but they both contributed a piece to the puzzle in hopes of solving the never ending mind game.

This theme helps illuminate how black people came to be treated in America both when slavery existed and beyond into today’s society. The theme that black people are disposable bodies within American society. Because of the tradition of treating black people as objects or whose value strictly came from their ability to make profit, the idea of what it means to be black in America is imbedded in the danger of losing one’s body. Although slavery has ended, the racism remains as a violence inflicted on black people’s bodies. Coates is more than happy to emphasize that racism is an instinctive practice.

Locke's primary goal in the essay "The New Negro" is to migrate from monolithic notions of an "Old Negro", as well as from the exhausted frameworks of bourgeois intellectual black leadership toward an idea that gives creative agency and credibility to the "rank and file" of Negro life (Locke, New Negro: 6).

The “new” negro no longer embodied “old” characteristics that defined a black man. Society had always taught a black man how to act; however, now he was adapting to the world. Locke declared that ‘the Old Negro’ had long become more of a myth than a man” (Locke, 1). A furthered and detailed definition of an “Old Negro” was that he “was a creature of moral debating historical controversy” (Locke, 1). The four

White nationalism is an umbrella term to describe the ideology that calls for the creation of an all white “ethnostate” in America. Mainly, this is to be achieved by the deportation and genocides of non-whites. White nationalists claim that the “white-genocide,” or the cultural dilution of Americans of European descent, is occurring to the detriment of this country, by allowing immigration from other parts of the world the United States is only weakening it’s economy and degridating the moral fabric of its society.

August 28, 1963 (Eidenmuller) marked a very important day in history that had an impact not only on America, but the whole world. On this day, Martin Luther King Jr. presented his well known I Have a Dream speech that aimed to eliminate racism, inequality and discrimination. He strongly believed that one day people would put their differences aside and come together. So, what happened to that dream? Along with other equality initiative ideas, they rarely make it past the idea stages or end in the actual eradication result. It is clear to us that even after 51 years, our societies still struggle with accepting full equality. Within those 51 years we have made a mass amount of progress but, a common thought would be that after this long the issue should have been eradicated. Two essays that can be used as an example of proof that racial inequality still exists in our society are, Black Men in Public Spaces by Brent Staples and Who Shot Johnny? by Debra Dickerson. In these essays, both provide solid evidence to support their main goal with the use of different writing styles, tone, and rhetorical devices to display how African Americans are perceived and treated by society.

The Black man has a long history of slavery, violence and general tension in the United States. Although there have been amendments to legislation to allow for some equality, there is still progress to be made. In the meantime, civil rights movements have given birth to organizations such as Nuwaubianism, that aim to keep the Black community together. Using ethnographic research, techniques such as field observations, interviews, and literary analysis I will conduct an autopsy of Black Nationalism relating to the epistemological concepts surrounding Black

Smith’s “Second pillar of white supremacy” helps to understand the motives and backing behind Trump’s order. The second pillar refers to the “logic of genocide”, she explains that “Indigenous people must disappear. In fact, they must always be disappearing, in order to allow non-indigenous people the rightful claim over this land” (Smith). There has always been deliberate action taken in this country to silence, marginalize, erase, and colonize the minds and bodies of traditionally black and brown individuals, but new forms of oppression make room for gender, sexuality, and class. Today is no different in function, people of color continue to exist on the periphery, precariously balanced between extinction and

In his book Member of the Club, Lawrence Otis Graham details the struggles of living as a black student at Princeton University. The chapter “The Underside of Paradise” opens up with a quote by Paul Robeson that compared living in Princeton to living in a southern plantation. Despite Graham attending Princeton three decades later, he found the quote to be accurate in describing his own student experience at the esteemed college where subtle but real racial segregation divided the campus. Through an analysis with the functionalist perspective, the tension and division between the white and black students can be understood as a result of organic solidarity. Ultimately, the two groups of people are part of an interconnected society. However, they are separated by issues of civil rights. Black students are able to relate to the injustices that take place in the world. However, white students are often unable to do so and remain indifferent and separated from the issues. An example can be seen when Graham participated in the antiapartheid movement and his roommate Steve confronted Graham and asked, “Please don’t get offended by this, but do blacks really think Americans are so terrible, and that things are so racist and unfair in the United States?” (Graham, 1995, p. 204). In a sense, the racial segregation could also be seen as a mechanism to prevent conflict between the two groups. As Emile Durkheim (1972) states, “The closer functions approach one-another, however, the more

According to Edward Said, “There has been no major revolution in modern history without intellectuals; conversely there has been no major counter revolutionary movement without intellectuals. Intellectuals have been the fathers and mothers of movements, and of course sons and daughters, even nephews and nieces.” Said focused on the general population of intellectuals and their importance to all of the various modern day revolutions and counter revolutions. However, it is also significant to notice how this also relates to the black intellectuals and the importance of the positions that they held, in relation to all of their movements. The role of the black radical intellectual is vital to understanding the questions of politics and the