LITR 4332 American Minority Literature Model Assignments Final Exam Submissions 2013

Tara L. Lawrence

May 03, 2013

American Minority Literature: What I Have Learned and Where I Go From Here

            Many Americans hold the idea, whether they verbalize it or not, that America has become a post-racial society. A post-racial society is a utopian ideal, where racism and prejudice do not exist; where all people regardless of the color of their skin receive the same opportunities and treatment from everyone, all the time. This idea has never held much weight in my mind; while I believe that America is inching ever closer to this ideal, I feel certain that we are not there yet. What I have learned during this course has only served to crystallize this fact in my mind; we as a nation and a people still have a long way to go in becoming a post-racial society. American Minority Literature has also given me the tools and terms to necessary to more thoughtfully articulate, discuss and think about race and minority issues, not just as they apply to the minority, but as they apply to all of us. In this essay, I will discuss what I have learned in American Minority Literature and how this learning may be applied outside the classroom.

            I began my long essay on the mid-term exam with an anecdote about our first day in class: I asked the question, "why are we only studying African-American, Native-American and Mexican-American literature and not Asian-American literature or Italian-American literature" (this may not be verbatim, but it comes close). The answer to this question was momentarily elusive, yet once articulated, incredibly simple and intuitive. To me, the answer to this question, a definition of what groups constitute a minority, at least in regard to American minority literature, became the foundation for everything else I have learned in the course. The concepts of "forced participation" and being "voiceless and choiceless" stem directly from the idea that none of these groups chose to be a part of America, but became a part of America regardless. All of the texts we have studied this semester have broached the themes of "forced participation" and being "voiceless and choiceless" to varying degrees.  This theme is perhaps strongest in the slave narratives, and Native-American poetry because they are first person narratives, which highlight the effects of "forced participation" and being "voiceless and choiceless." For me, the most visceral example of these themes is found in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye and occurs during the chapter that relates Cholly Breedlove's history. The scene is Cholly's first sexual encounter, and it quickly devolves from a sweet, youthful first experience to a horrifying example of "forced participation" and being "voiceless and choiceless." The effects on the minority of being  "voiceless and choiceless" and forced to participate in American society lead the African-Americans, Native-Americans and Mexican-Americans to create their own takes on "The American Dream." These different alternative narratives become an important tool in the understanding of American minority literature.

            The African-American "Dream" most closely resembles "The American Dream" out of the three different alternative narratives. The concept of the African-American "dream," was clearly articulated in Reverend Martin Luther King Junior's speech, "I Have a Dream:"

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed--we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Dr. King's words speak to the idea of, "a dream deferred," of a dream unrealized and unfulfilled, yet achievable. It is a dream that shall be realized, "one day." The Native-American alternative narrative is "loss and survival." This idea speaks to great losses experienced by the native peoples at the hands of Anglo settlers and they fact that they survive despite these terrible losses.

Lipsha Morrisey, a character in Louise Erdrich's Love Medicine, is the human embodiment of "loss and survival." Lipsha is abandoned as a baby and tormented by his half-brother as a child. The loss and heartache Lipsha endures does not break him; he survives and even has the realization at the end of the novel that he may be all the better for what he has lost and endured. The Mexican-American alternative narrative of "a frontier people" is focused more on identity than either of the other two narratives; the African-American and Native-American alternative narrations focus more on what has been lost and how to survive and overcome this loss. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya highlights the Mexican-American search for identity between the three cultures that the Mexican-American people straddle. Bless Me, Ultima's protagonist, Tony Marez, seeks to know what kind of man he is destined to become. Each choice a symbol of the three cultural influences on Mexican-Americans: the Anglo, the Spaniard and the indigenous Indian. 

The three alternative narratives to "The American Dream" each have embedded within them another key idea to understanding American minority literature, this is the idea of "assimilation or resistance." The question of whether to assimilate or resist is seen repeatedly throughout our course materials. This question does not have a definite yes or no answer in the minority narrative, but rather, is a question with different answers for different writers. The slave narratives point to assimilation as a means for the slave to survive. My classmate, Amanda Newell, points to this same conclusion in her essay, "Assimilation." Ms. Newell asserts, "Assimilation in a sense was a necessary tool for survival." Conversely, Toni Morrison presents a less than flattering picture of the family that "assimilates" in The Bluest Eye." Her portrayal of this family suggests that they have, in a way, lost their soul. This difference of viewpoint is also seen in the Native-American literature we have studied over the semester. Louise Erdrich's Love Medicine, taking a more positive or at least neutral view of assimilation, while Chrystos' poem, "I Have Not Signed a Treaty with the U.S. Government," takes on a tone of true resistance. The idea of resistance and assimilation is also present in Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima, but rather than being a question with a positive or a negative answer, is just a fact of life for these "frontier people." The concepts of "resistance or assimilation," alternative narrations of "The American Dream" and "forced participation"/"voiceless and choiceless" are not the long ideas I have learned this semester, but are, to me, the most important and applicable to my life outside this classroom.

            The ideas I have learned during this course are applicable in many areas of my life. First among these is the fact that instead of just having passive knowledge on the subject of minorities in America, I have an active knowledge full of meaningful words and concepts. This new active knowledge that I possess has been a great help to me because it allows me to better articulate some of my long-held beliefs. These concepts give weight and meaning to what I say when I stumble into, generally uncomfortable, conversations with those that espouse the platitudes that this class teaches us to resist. These concepts are also helpful in my literary studies beyond American Minority Literature, they serve as a reminder to not read works of literature only at their face value, but always look to the ulterior motives and meanings behind an author's words.