Striving For An Equal Society

I believe that society has taken leaps and bounds toward acceptance of all individuals, regardless of race, sexual orientation, gender, and other opinions. In some areas, we have come farther than others. For example, as a whole, African Americans and other races have equal opportunities as whites as far as job opportunities go. Unfortunately, however, you can still see today how we are divided when it comes to a topic such as homosexuality, as gay marriage is still illegal in many states. In my opinion, society will never be perfect because all groups of people have different sets of ideals based on how they were raised, and it is impossible to expect everyone to have the same opinions.

One of the problems that is raised when discussing racism is what race an individual identifies themselves as. On the works that we have discussed in class, such as Angry Black White Boy, the narrator is struggling to grasp their identity. He is obviously white, but he resents white people and is struggling to identify himself as black by living by stereotypes associated with blacks such as stealing the white man’s wallet, carrying a gun, and being involved with the hip hop scene. His internal conflict is based on stereotypes associated with each race. You can see in the novel how relieved the white people that get in his cab are when they see that he is a white cab driver and not a black one because they don’t want to ride in a black person’s cab.  We also see this internal struggle in Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. He can act white when he wants to, whether it’s getting into a bar to get a drink or being able to be around a lynching of an black person without being caught. However, he can also get in touch with his black heritage by playing rag time music in the American south. His ambiguity to race is unfair to him and causes his internal struggle, and it’s caused by how society perceives him.

In my life every day, I still see discrimination everywhere. I also think that many people are like me. I wouldn’t call myself a homophobe or a racist. However, I’ve played basketball my whole life, and it’s uncanny how the best teams seem to be comprised of African Americans. Therefore, there is a stereotype in my own head that black people are better at basketball that white people. Also, it makes me uncomfortable when I see a gay couple holding hands or kissing in public, but I’m not against same sex marriage. I see both sides of the story; I can see that love is love, and that people should be able to be with who they want to be, regardless of gender. I also can’t help but feeling that homosexuality just doesn’t seem right and that it wasn’t God’s intention. As I mentioned earlier, I think society has come a long way in accepting others, but there will always be a sense of discrimination between groups of people based on what Is considered “normal.”

Decodfing Racial Stereotypes

In the short story “Recitatif” by Toni Morrison, instead of revealing the race of the two main characters, Morrison leaves it up to the reader to decide based on the pre-existing stereotypes of both blacks and whites. The way that Morrison does this is by showing how the relationship between Twyla and Roberta is shaped by their racial difference. There are several points in the story where the reader can draw his or her own conclusion about that race of the individuals.

One instance of where racial stereotyping plays a role in this story is during Twyla and Roberta’s third encounter, which his 20 years after they met at St. Bonny’s. Tyra is middle class and married to a firefighter, while Roberta is rich and married to an IBM executive. Although Morrison doesn’t reveal the race of either character, my assumption at this point is that Tyra is black and Roberta is white because it is a socially perceived stereotype that white people have more money and live more comfortably than black people. However, there is also a negative stereotype of white women hidden in this encounter that I believe Morrison is trying to get across. To me, the term “IBM executive” has a negative connotation as sort of snobby, and carries the notion that white women marry for money.

Another example of racial stereotypes affecting the mind of the reader is during Twyla and Roberta’s second encounter, when Twyla is working behind the counter at “the Howard Johnson’s on Thruway,” which is a hotel of some sort. She notices that Roberta is sitting in a booth with “two guys smothered in head and facial hair,” and discovers that they are on their way to the west coast to keep an appointment with Jimi Hendrix. Based on this passage, contrary to their third encounter, I’m inclined to say that Twyla is white because she could very well be a young white girl working behind the counter at a hotel trying to earn some extra money. Roberta, on the other hand, is hanging out with these hairy people that are followers of Jimi Hendrix, and I picture them having dreadlocks and beards. Based on my assumptions and socially perceived racial stereoypes, I would conclude from this encounter that Roberta is black.

Lastly, a scene that struck me as important in trying to decipher the race of each character was the church scene. Roberta’s mother is describes as having a cross on her large chest, which makes me want to assume that she is a black women because of the stereotype that black women have larger breasts that white women. There is no actual evidence that reveals the race of each character, it’s all in the reader’s head. That is one of the important ideas that this story brings to light; if someone asked my why at one point did I assume Roberta was black and Twyla was white, or vice versa, I wouldn’t have factual evidence, just my knowledge and experience of racial stereotypes of the lifestyle differences between blacks and whites.

Passing: A Blessing or a Curse

One of the issues that seems to bother Clair throughout the novel is passing as a white person. A topic that we discussed in class, but found interesting was that, although she disapproves of Irene passing as white, she in fact passes as white herself. For example, to get out of the hot sun, Irene passes as a white woman in order to get into a hotel with air conditioning that she wouldn’t have gotten into otherwise. This raises the moral implications of passing. Is it okay to pass as you wish, or is that disrespectful to your race? Or can you not help it based on the way that you were raised?

One of the most interesting aspects in the novel is what race each of the two main characters align themselves to, and how it affects their perception of what is right and wrong and of their race. For example, after her mother died, Clair went to live with her white aunts and was raised passing as a white women. From this, we can conclude that she identifies with the white race, and lives vicariously as a black woman through Irene when she is back with her. She does this by going to the primarily African American party with Irene, even though Irene doesn’t think that it is safe for her to go. Irene, on the other hand, was raised as a black woman and you can tell she only passes as white for her convenience, as she is uncomfortable with Claire’s notion of identifying with the white race. Irene identifies herself as black, which is the opposite of Irene.

The conflict here is who is right? I don’t think that Claire is betraying her negroe blood because she was raised by her two white aunts and sincerely believes that she is a white women with some black blood. On the otherhand, Irene believes that she is a black women that can pass as white if she needs to. Neither women is wrong, but their situation has defined how they view their race.

I think that the homosexual attraction that Irene has towards Clair also plays an important role in the novel. For example, Irene uses words like beautiful, pale, and dark eyes to make the reader aware that she is sexually attracted to Claire. Also, she is jealous of her husband (not necessarily Claire) when she believes that her husband and Claire are having an affair.

Also, passing in this novel has two forms: passing as a white/black person and passing as a heterosexual. Irene struggles with passing as a heterosexual because she is always uneasy when being around Irene, as she describes the way that Claire looks at her makes her uncomfortable. Similarly to her not wanting people to find out that she is black when she is trying to get into a cool building, maybe she thinks that she will not be able to live a normal life if people found out that she was a lesbian.