A Cautionary Tale and a Partisan View

After reading this story about Zora Neale Hurston, it reminded me of many topics that we have covered in class, especially the incidents where African Americans abandoned their race and culture, to fit into society, "white society." In Hurstons "Mules and Men," Hurston shares the stories of African Americans that have been forgotten for many years because African Americans abandoned those memories. I believe Hurston as an author, was brave and did not care what society thought of her as a writer. She wrote from the heart about the lives of so many African Americans. She brought life back into many lives and brought back a sense of happiness and fulfillment that so many lacked for many years.

The narrator states how Hurston was one author who did not lack the sense of racial health, complexity, etc. which so many African Americans authors lacked during this time. It was as though she was not going to settle (like so many have) to fit into a society that was not going to except her. She was going to stand tall and speak out about her beliefs and for those who have abandoned their race and culture because they did not see another way out. She took a risk, but in doing so, brought comfort and a sense of community back to the African American population. The narrator states, "Zora grew up in a community of black people who had enormous respect for themselves and for their ability to govern themselves." Not only did she bring this to those who knew her, but to everyone who read her book. Although she may not have been well known and "rewarded" for what she accomplished, she did have a positive impact of many African Americans.

Characteristics of Negro Expression

I was surprised in the section "will to adorn" when Hurston stated that "the Negro has introduced no African words to the language." I guess I never truly thought about who introduced words or where they originated from, especially if African Americans introduced words to our language. Although African Americans are looked down for their "slang," I think its fair to say that it is their own language and I do believe that it has been passed down to many generation. Words like "aint" are transformed from the english language from the word "aren't", but these words did originate from the African American culture and are still used today. I think it is important to identify because in the early 1900's it may not have been accepted, but today, "slang" words are commonly used even though they aren't "proper."

In the section "dialect", I thought it was very interesting how Hurston states how the lip form is responsible for the way African Americans speak. Hurston says, "By experiment the reader will find that a sharp "I" is very much easier with a thin taut lip than with a full soft lip." I think this description of how words are pronounced by other cultures give you more of an understanding and respect for their culture, rather than judging them of how they pronounce words.

Langston Hughes Article

After reading this article, I was very surprised how influential whites were towards African Americans without them even knowing it. In the beginning of this article it states hows "Negro art in American- this urge within the race toward whiteness, the desire to pour racial individuality into the mold of American standardization, and to be as little Negro and as much American as possible." I think in order for African Americans to feel accepted with their work and art, they had to write as though they were white. Its obvious that racial tension still existed during this time and to be successful you had to fit in and do what society wanted. The author mentions a great point at the end on the first page that "he" as the poet is never taught to to see his beauty but to be ashamed of it. It must be tough to grow up being told (by your family) that the white life is how you should live and want to live because you aren't accepted as an African American.

On the first page, the author gives examples of how the father refers to whites but unconsciously. He uses the white life as a guide for how he lives and how he raises his children. The author states "the whisper of "I want to be white" runs silently through their minds." It seems as though children during this time were taught about how to live like a white person rather than living and representing their culture and heritage. From the perspective of this father, it seems as though his goal is to blend in with the white society and try to forget about who he really is.

Cullen Poems

After our discussion in class on Wednesday, the poem "Tableau" stood out to me. It was one of my favorite poems of Cullen's poetry. I think some of his poetry can be difficult to understand and hard to relate to, which as a reader takes away the meaning of the poem.

After learning that Cullen may have been gay, this poem stands out as a way to express those feelings without actually saying it. He uses a black and white boy to show the vivid contrast of the boys walking arm in arm. I think using this contrast it makes the boys stand out to the reader, but more significantly as a race issue rather than it being assumed they were gay. Cullen goes on to describe how the dark folks stare and the fair folks talk and how "wrong" this is to the viewers. I believe that he could be using the black and white boy as a way to express his feeling about a gay relationship, but people during this time were so against black and white relationships that the idea wasn't even a thought.

I think that if Cullen was expressing a relationship between two gay boys, he did an excellent job of conveying the message through a white and black boy. The attention that a white boy and black boy would get, is probably very similar to what two gay boys would recieve if the public was aware. He hides the true identity of the boys, by using their color as a center point to his poetry rather than truly identitfying that the boys are gay.