Debra Dickerson, a lawyer and journalist, sets out to inform blacks that they have to give up on the past. If they do not give up on the past, there will be no future for blacks in America. She opens her book, The End of Blackness: Returning the Souls of Black Folks to Their Rightful Owners, by saying “this book will both prove and promote the idea that the concept of ‘blackness,’ as it has come to be understood, is rapidly losing its ability to describe, let alone predict or manipulate, the political and social behavior of African Americans” (p.3). My first thought after finishing this book was that she did not prove anything.
Dickerson’s goal in this book, I gather, is to criticize contemporary approaches to race. She does this without
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She bases this on two assumptions; first, whites also face social problems and should not be the standard. Second, seeking the help of whites in order to solve black problems is based on outdated notions. Furthermore, by always using the “outdated” racist argument, blacks are stripped of all aspects of individual agency, choice, and responsibility.
Another area of the book that I take issue with is that Dickerson argues that it is important for blacks to surrender their past and their racial identity if they are ever going to get anywhere in this country, yet at the same time she writes a chapter “white intransigence" where she lumps all whites together. If this is what she is saying should not happen to blacks, then how does she justify doing it in the case of whites? If whites still make bigoted remarks and spin statistics as she says then she is defeating her own argument that the civil rights movement brought revolutionary change. Again I question, if she is urging blacks to surrender and give up old patterns of rhetoric and complaint in favor of civic participation then why does she present white supremacy as such an overwhelming external force that can not be overcome?
These questions bring me back to my opening statement. She says she will “prove” and “promote” the fact that “blackness” as we know it is losing power in its ability to explain political and social behavior. At the end of the day, I walk away feeling as though nothing has been proven.
To engage a large audience, Staples appeals to readers with his use to two different points of views throughout the essay: societal views and black views. Staples tries to connect with the readers by giving examples of unconscious thoughts that run through the minds of most people when in the same situation as the “white women.” In his opening sentence, Staples calls the women a “victim.” In her own eyes, she herself was “victim” due to the influence of generalized stereotypes presented in our culture. She becomes quick to judge based on Staples appearance: his skin tone. Because of his color, his every action becomes nothing but threats and anxiety on the women. “She casted a back worried glance. To her, the youngish black- broad six feet two inches with a beard and billowing hair, both hands shoved into the pockets of a
Kelly Brown Douglas begins by posing a series of questions, including, “Who is the Black Christ?” and “Is the Black Christ Enough?” (6-7) For Douglas, the Black Christ, “…represents God’s urgent movement in human history to set Black captives free from the demons of White racism” (3). The question of “Who is the Black Christ?” is addressed in Chapter 3. The question of “Is the Black Christ enough?” is addressed in Chapters 4 and 5, as Douglas critically examines the relationship of the Black Christ to the Black community and ends with addressing what womanist theology is and why there is a need for it in understanding the Black Christ.
She appeals to African Americans to convince them to work together because she believes that they are possible solutions that can resolve racial inequalities. She acknowledges that, “Every revolution in history has been accomplished by actions, although words are necessary … We must create shields that protect us and spears that penetrate our enemies”. The black community should protect themselves from being been brainwashed by the white man and retaliate against the oppressive system. She confronts the white man’s intolerant attitude toward the civil right movement that, “Every Time a black freedom fighter is murder or captured, the pig try to create the impression that they have quenched the movement , destroyed our forces ,and put down the black revolutionary movement.liberation army … at this time is to create good examples, to
At points though, he goes into too much depth. When at Howard University he did not need to go in as much depth as he did about meeting women. Although this did show that there was a wide range of diversity on campus, it was not necessary to get across his point of the endangerment or struggles of African Americans. Also, since the book was published in 2015, while an African American President was in office, he could have discussed more of the similarities and differences between his childhood and the present day racial
From the beginning Robin DiAngelo paves the way for a successful argument by stating the exsistence of white fragility and addressing her audience of white liberals. As a person reads white fragility DiAngelo builds her argument with layers of evidence providing specific examples of the places white fragility takes place in the work force, how white people purposefully segregate themselves, place themselves in the position of vulnerability, and are ignorant to their state of separation. DiAngelo is able to provide her explanation on the exsistence of modern day racism through tone, evidence, and ethos. Along with the use of pathos and logos DiAngelo successfully carries out her argument. However, loses credibility by alienating those with
The article “The Great White Way” by Debra J. Dickerson attempts to show her readers that “Race is an arbitrary system for establishing hierarchy and privilege” (68) in America. In her article, Dickerson questions how “whiteness” leads America in our culture and society and how all the other races are defined in America. She also explains how history has divided whites from non-whites in America. The intended audience that Dickerson’s essay gravitated towards are political or liberal Americans. In her article “The Great White Way”. Debra J. Dickerson powerfully argues that race is an overall way to establish social classes and who and what get special privileges because of their certain race or skin color. Dickerson argues that “Race is
The documentary, “Unforgivable Blackness” directed by Ken Burns casts light on the extraordinary life story of legendary boxer Jack Johnson. The documentary is about the barriers Jack Johnson had to overcome to satisfy his hunger for becoming the best and living “The American Dream.” Johnson had humble beginnings in Galveston, Texas and it was in those beginnings that glimpses of his bright future were slowly but surely beginning to show. Through out his life, he showed independence, relentlessness, ability to improvise, call attention to himself and get around rules meaning to tie him down. Jack Johnson was a self made man who had the drive to go forward and achieve what he wanted to achieve
Williams makes very strong points and claims within the excerpt however one her most recognizable ones is on page 10 the first paragraph and last sentence Williams states “The noisy, racial chasm still yawn darkly beneath us all, but we few brave souls glide gingerly above, upon a skim of hope, our bodies made light with denial, the black pond so dangerously and thinly iced with the conviction that talking about it will only make things worse.” Williams claim in this is clear: not talking about racism will only continue to add to the fire which will only make the situation worse. Not talking about racism is letting a pot stir and allowing racism to grow beneath our noses. When we don’t speak on racism it slows down the process of us advancing as a world. Many white people were taught that talking about racism is racist so they tend to shy away conversations that evolve around race without knowing they are involuntary apart of the problem by refusing to recognize the issue.
Racism is a big part of this book. It shows the absurdity of what people thought back then, which is an important lesson. It is important for us to learn what people’s views used to be, and how important it is not to go back to that mindset.
Whiteness and racism comes from the oppression, colonization and systems of dominance over black people and their feelings. In this case, an intersectional feminist analysis matters because women who are able bodied, cis-gendered, privileged and white are only being considered whereas bell hooks argue that men, women and trans people who oppressed should be fought for. And Peggy McIntosh adds onto this but a white woman who addresses and recognizes her privilege to help other white individuals understand what they have and blacks do not.
Similar to the author Kimberle Crenshaw, the author of “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics,” I would like to start my critical review essay by mentioning the Black feminist studies book entitled “All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave.” Having this idea of problematic predisposition to treat race and gender as mutually exclusive entities in mind, I would like to review Angela Davis’s book entitled “Women, Race, and Class”, and compare my findings to Kimberle Crenshaw’s groundbreaking article that we have read in class, where she famously terms the idea of “intersectionality.” I will start with the examination of similarities between Davis’s and Crenshaw’s arguments regarding the erasure of the Black women’s experiences in social sciences and feminist writings, and will also point out the additional consideration of class that Davis brings to the idea of intersectionality of race and gender initially suggested by Crenshaw, and further discuss the triple discrimination that Black women face on the fronts of race, gender, and class. My main aim in the review of the two author’s texts is to reveal the prevalent problematic notion in Black societies of viewing race implicitly gendered as male, and recognizing gender mainly from the white women’s standpoint.
In Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, Alexander explains how racism in the U.S. has been “redesigned” in order to be written off as nearly nonexistent (Alexander, 2). Alexander goes on to
She erases the blackness of the woman to justify her actions, a common endeavor in white America’s exploitation of the black body. This endeavor is evident of the
Although the text, Women: Images and Realities a Multicultural Anthology, has done a wonderful job of showcasing the diversity of women’s experiences, I find Beverly Daniel Tatum’s work “Defining Racism: “Can We Talk?”” to be the most striking. In the essay, Tatum describes how she (and many other feminists) define racism and who can and cannot be racist. Tatum argues that there are important distinctions between prejudice and racism, wherein racism is defined as a ‘system of advantage based on race” or more precisely “prejudice plus power” (388). Through multiple examples Tatum illustrates that if one accepts and uses her definition of racism then only White people (the group of people who ‘dominate’ society) are racist because “people of
Yet, the most significant flaw in this essay can be seen through the author’s simplistic view of the scope of racial injustice. Remarkably, the author only refers to white privilege in terms of its impact on what she calls “the problems facing Black America.” She fails to acknowledge or perhaps has no insight that white privilege involves the preference for ‘whiteness’ over all persons of color. Every non-white group is impacted by individual and institutional racism. Every non-white group grows up with the knowledge that their white peers have certain automatic privileges. Every child of color has to learn to navigate through the floodwaters of racism