myOtaku.com: X Shadowme X

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Birthday
• 1993-05-02
Gender
• Female
Location
• Here
Member Since
• 2005-05-30
Occupation
• Life preserver :)
Real Name
• Belina

Personal

Achievements
• http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb281/Soul_Resistance/Untitled.jpg... Nuff said
Anime Fan Since
• Ever since Pokemon
Favorite Anime
• I'm not that obsessed anymore, to be honest. Mostly just Kare Kano, Ceres, Furuba, Ouran Highschool Hostclub, FMA, and, of course, ShinChan. X3
Goals
• Make it out of here in one piece
Hobbies
• Paranoia, mood swings, and the occasional emotional meltdown
Talents
• :)

myOtaku.com: X Shadowme X

Friday, October 21, 2011

A few minutes ago I was reading "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain" by Langston Hughes in the library for my African American Literature class, and a recurring thought came to me.

In the essay (which was written in 1926), Hughes describes this scene in which a young black boy says to him "I want to be a poet--not a Negro poet" and Hughes takes it to mean that the young aspiring artist is ashamed of his blackness and wants to be wite. In this particular instance, Hughes's assumption is probably correct, but does this really apply to all black people who act "White"? Do these specific African Americans, even now, talk a certain way or act a certain way simply because they're ashamed of their race or because that's simply the way they are and who they are?

Hughes seems to think it is the former. At the time he was writing, this probably was the case, but I can't help but wonder if he would still think the same now.

Personally, I would have taken the boys statement to mean that he wished to be known for his poetry and not his race as if it were so odd and impossible for a black man to be writing poetry. I don't know. Maybe I'm just trying to ease my guilt as a white person, but I think stereo-typing black either way is damaging to their self-esteem because stereo-typing them at all implies that they are all the same, which they are not. Therefore, expecting a person to be generous or greedy, obnoxious or quiet, stupid or crafty simply because he or she is black is, in my mind, racist. I don't think people's lives and self-image and identity should be governed by something as trivial as race. I think people should be confident in themselves and love themselves for who they are. I think a person who likes opera should be allowed to like opra without being seen as a confirmation of a stereo-type or a "sellout" if that individual's racial stereotype doesn't match them.

I completely agree with Hughes's assertion that blacks shouldn't be ashamed to be themselves and shouldn't try to become white simply because white is what's traditionally considered beautiful, but I believe it goes both ways, you know?

Annnnd, that's my rant on race relations for the day.

Most of you seem like you're doing well, sorry for those of you who aren't. I feel you on the stress part. This semester is and has been a hurricance.
ily
~Belinda
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