English 250 Blog Posts

Introduction      Discrimination has been rooted in American society since our country's inception.  Over time, we have come closer to equality, but we still have never truly achieved this ideal.  In the 1950's, Americans of minority race and sexual orientation experienced discrimination throughout all facets of their lives, including job opportunities.  They also faced enormous hurdles in wealth and income inequality. These topics are explored in Jewell Gomez's work, "Don't Explain."  We will discuss topics such as racial wealth inequality, sexual-orientation discrimination, capitalism's exacerbation of these issues, and how these come together in the story.  Wealth Inequality Wealth Gap (6) First, we will discuss some historical context for racial inequality based on wealth statistics.  Following the abolishment of slavery, the wealth gap between black and white Americans was 60 to 1 (1).  Over the years, this gap steadily tightened, plateauing around th

 African American Tradition in Alice Walker's "Everyday Use" By: Jill Hartranft Throughout Alice Walker's short story "Everyday Use," tradition is a central theme. African American traditions include folk crafts such as quilting and sewing as well as more traditional African American names. Alice Walker uses Mama, Dee, and Maggie to bring the tradition of quilting and sewing and traditional African American names to light. Dee starts off as a character that only cares about the materialistic things of life and not so much about the traditions set forth by her culture, and she couldn’t care any less about her heritage. Near the end of the story, Dee takes a turn and chooses to change her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo:  ““Well,” I say. “Dee.” “No, Mama,” she says. “Not ‘Dee,’ Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo!” “What happened to ‘Dee’?” I wanted to know. “She’s dead,” Wangero said. “I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me.” “You

Control & Race                                                                              By Trinity Druckemiller NEW YORK – OCTOBER 1966: NOVELIST RALPH ELLISON POSES FOR A PORTRAIT IN HARLEM IN NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK. (PHOTO BY DAVID ATTIE)                         Introduction     Racism and the thought of being superior to minorities is sadly still very prominent in today's world. A lot of us would think this is because of slavery, but it all started when the colonization of Europeans started in the early 1600s. With this, the Europeans believed themselves to be superior to other races. This series of events caused a cultural impact and with this, the study of postcolonialism came to light. In the short story "The Battle Royal" written by Ralph Ellison, the readers follow an unnamed narrator who goes to a party to perform his speech but unknowingly until he gets there, he must participate in a multiple-person brawl. Ralph Ellison uses the theme of control and r

The Dehumanization and Classification of African Americans in Ralph Ellison's "Battle Royal " In The Politics of Ellison's Booker : Invisible Man as Symbolic History, the author discusses the significance of Booker T. Washington's ideology in shaping early twentieth century African American identity and success. This ideology is reflected in the character of the young Negro in Voltaire's Candide, who embraces the prevailing notion of success for people of color in the South at the time, a notion influenced by Booker T. Washington's ideas . Negro Battle Royal - 2014 - Question of the Month - Jim Crow Museum (ferris.edu) The young black man's belief that the most successful blacks are those who prove themselves vital to white society is consistent with Washington's philosophy of gradualism and reconciliation with white society. This belief is evident in the narrator's desire to be like Booker T. Washington, who advocated vocational training and s

Steve Schapiro, "The front line of demonstrators during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom" An Introduction In the story, “Don’t Explain” we see small details about the characters’ lives that prove racism is not only found in overt acts of violence against minority groups but can be effectively protested through peaceful means. Letty faces covert acts of racism and discrimination as she juggles the challenges that she is met with. However, the peaceful protest of Billie Holiday's music becomes central to the story and to Letty as we understand the impact that her music had on American society at the time.  Brief Historical Background for Understanding The story, “Don’t Explain” takes place in Boston in 1959. Although slavery was outlawed after the Civil War, segregation was running rampant in America due to the court ruling that “separate but equal” was acceptable (History.com Writers). However, black Americans were not granted the equal treatment and access to