Topic 3 (African American literature)

essay(s) combining "The American Dream and the Dream"
& "The Color Code and the Black Aesthetic"
 

Combination of Dream and Color Code

The Rise from Unattainable Dreams

In Toni Morrison’s, The Bluest Eye, Soaphead Church summarizes Pecola’s story, “A little black girl who wanted to rise up out of the pit of her blackness and see the world with blue eyes.” The blue eyes are Pecola’s version of The Dream and the effects that the Color Code had on her self esteem, and ultimately her life.  I initially choose the Color Code and the Black Aesthetic for this essay because of the encouraging, positive and strong views that the Black Aesthetic portrayed. Then I realized how the American Dream and the Dream are interlaced with the Color Code and the Black Aesthetic. The Color Code is partially to blame for the African American culture not being able to have the American Dream.  African Americans cannot have the American dream because they were slaves due to the Color Code and opportunities to try to achieve the American Dream were not available.  The American Dream is possible for white, non minority cultures; an example is Toni Morrison’s introduction to The Bluest Eye. The introduction, part of a children’s book, Jane a blond blue eyed child exemplifies the American dream- perfect family, perfect home. (Obj 5a)  “The Dream” was also unobtainable to African Americans because The Dream never happens; the Black Aesthetic replaces The Dream as positive view on their racial identity.  Aspects of the dream did appear slowly in history:  one day freedom came with the Emancipation Proclamation, but then segregation existed, and then one day segregation was defeated, but then racism has continued.   For example, one of Claudia’s personal dreams and other children’s dreams was Lake Shore Park, a segregated city park in The Bluest Eye where “black people were not allowed in the park, and so it filled our dreams.”

The Color Code defined the minority situation for African Americans during slavery and continues to affect racial tensions today. The slave narratives were not victimizations, but detailed accounts of the injustices, the exploitation, and the voicelessness of the African American slaves. This literature was essential in order to bring a voice to the antislavery cause, and to bring to light the effects of slavery to all.  Complications arise with the color code as the minority community begins to assimilate with the white community (Obj 3).  The mixed identity race that arose, could not integrate with the white culture (pure), and were still considered a subclass of the African American culture. The lighter skin did help some people, for example, Linda’s Uncle Benjamin in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl  “For once his white face did him a kindly service.”, yet if caught would still be treated as a runaway slave.  Claudia and Frieda were jealous of Maureen Peal who enjoyed the advantages of being the “high yellow dream child”.  Maureen understood The Color Code very well and how it applied to her “I am cute! And you ugly! Black and ugly black e mos. I am cute!”

An excellent example of the relationship between the Color Code and the American Dream is Frederick Douglas’ experience as a free man, though he was in a free state, he still did not receive equality of opportunity because of his skin color:

“When I got through with that job, I went in pursuit of a job of calking; but such was the strength of prejudice against color, among the white caulkers, that they refused to work with me, and of course I could get no employment.”

The Black Aesthetic was an attempt to educate and inspire, to take the differences in cultures and display them through art and literature as powerful and beautiful. The slave narratives inspired the modern black writers, by presenting the issues of the Color Code, and the constant fight for The Dream. The Black Aesthetic attempted to remove the Color Code’s perception regarding dark/black representing evil. They did this by making dark powerful but beautiful. Morrison describes the baby she foresees as Pecola’s baby as powerful and beautiful,

“It was in a dark, wet place, its head covered with great O’ of wool, the black face holding, like nickels, two clean black eyes, the flared nose, kissing-thick lips, and the living, breathing silk of black skin.”

In Maya Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise” she states, “I am the dream and the hope of the slave.” This suggests Objective 1b because she is giving the slaves and all African Americans a voice through her poetry.  This pride brought out by the Black Aesthetic inspired African Americans to educate by writing, to express their feelings by using different type of art forms, and also to inspire political activism.  This is one solution to the Color Code, because instead of trying to assimilate, the Black Aesthetic showed that even as an oppressed minority, the African American people could rise and be proud of their beautiful skin color. In this same poem Maya Angelou relates black with an ocean and it is a very powerful and beautiful image.

“ I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide”

The complications brought on by the American Dream where resolved by The Dream by making it more specific to the African American minority culture. This same reasoning applies to the oppressive nature of the Color Code, and the need to rise above its expectations, by using the Black Aesthetic to prove the beauty and intelligence of the African American minority.  The creative process that the authors’ used was to look at society and at the racial problems. I used a similar process by looking at the class objectives which deal with the dominant and minority cultures and their experiences. These authors wrote about what they were going through, what their friends and family experienced, and the political situation. They used Objective 6a, “literacy as a key or path to empowerment.”  Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen, in very different literary styles, wrote in order to educate people about how the African Americans had suffered, the progress since, and to encourage the Black Aesthetic. As Countee Cullen said in From the Dark Tower “We were not made to eternally weep.” [VV]