This article covers aspects of sociological and pyscological functions and structures of society."I want to be a poet not a Negro poet" There can be several connotations that can be percieved from this however this is my take on it.First it reminds me of someone I greatly admire,Condoleeza Rice former secretary of state second woman to hold the post and the first black woman to do so.She is a woman given her political arena never wanted to be identified with 'black issues" its not because she is ashamed of her race she just wanted to be seen as an educated intellect who is capable of fulfilling her desires and responsibilities.She said "I became a republican because Democrats appeals to women,poor and minorities,I decided I rather be ignored than be patronized."This reminds me of the author .I don't and fail to understand why is it that if you choose Episcopalism over being A baptist you are accused of wanting to be white if you choose to love hynms over soars of shout you are resenting your true sprituality.People need to understand that these things are sometimes due to assimilation, I myself have experimented with the church thing.I was brought up in what we call back home a Anglican church, I at one time visted other churches and I hated it.I just could'nt stand the choas, the noise, the outragous physical display of their bodies, I just could'nt not connect with the memebers or with God in that setting.Am I a "sell out" or resisting who i truly am hell no,its just simply not my nature to acccept or part take.They also spoke of the accomplishemnt of black folks wanting or having cars and homes" like white folks" how is that white? Is sucess measured by the possions or acomplishments of white people? When you attain things in life what should black people do go get a cart because cars are the protrayal of white sucess.And what is Nordic Manners does vulgarity suit us better is that what is expected of us?Now choice of words, now waht makes a word or phrase "white"? Black folks use proper contructed sentenses with intellectuals words they are callled wanna be, this is ridiculous and it pisses me off.There is common element withing society and races.It is now a matter of class structure, the haves and the have not. We need to erdadicate the sharp criticism and misunderstandings.The civil rights movement happen so we can have equal right ,justice,and oppurtunity so naturally there is going to be changes and condencesation.
Yes we are beautiful and ugly and of course we accept there we know,appreciate and acknowledge our history however having done or doing something "culturally uncharacteristic" does'nt mean we have we don't appreciate ourselves or want to be someone else.
Tamar - This is a very interesting response and raises a lot of interesting questions. Remember that it's his friend who says "I want to be a poet, not a Negro poet" - Hughes understands the reasons behind this, but doesn't agree when he says "An artist must be free to choose what he does, certainly, but he must also never be afraid to what he might choose." Maybe people today can make these choice more freely than Hughes' friend could. And as you point out, he may be drawing on one kind of black identity when there's so much variation by class, geography, religion, etc.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know about that quote from Rice - there's so much in that! How enraging that she felt being patronized or ignored were the two choices! As we'll see when we get to Black Power, they felt very much that white liberals who said they were for civil rights were condescending. Their response was to become more radical, but others respond by becoming conservative or withdrawing from politics.
Great response.. I partially understand where you are coming from however in my opinion what really makes a difference is the time and place. Now a days it may not seem "white" to own a house and two cars or to even just desire that. But that wasn't the case before.. Before one had to suppress their culture in order to be just partially accepted and even then it was a mockery. I think it has evolved into something just a little different but the same basic function. Instead of wanting a house and two cars now we want blond hair, blue/grey/green eyes, plastic surgery, super nice clothes that in reality have the same use as usual no-need to be expensive clothes, brands etc. Media and advertising are a huge influence and although we don't realize it we make our choices based on that. And all these "nice" THINGS keep us distracted from education and bettering ourselves and our true purpose.
ReplyDelete@Janota I totally agree with you,I didn't want to make the post any longer hence, I was definately going to mention the hypocrisy of our people and the culture that has surely transcended.
ReplyDelete@ Pro. Yes i'm aware who said what however the statement struck a nerve so i had to take that route of response.And yes i'm one of Miss Rice biggest fan, she insipres and motivates me.