2)    Rachel Risinger - All the Money in the World Will Not Buy You Any Class

3)    Amy Sidle - Because Not Every Author is an Old, White Guy: Why We Read Minority Literature

I read Denielle Alexander’s “How Colorism Affect Their Self-Esteem” in hopes of shedding some light on the perspective of African American culture and beauty from one who is within the culture. As a Hispanic-American, I can slightly identify with the concept that in order to be beautiful you have to look white. However, my skin color nor my race has never made me feel un-beautiful nor have I deemed fair skin or blonde hair as standards of beauty. I was under the impression that even though Black women have a tendency to straighten their hair or put in color contacts, this was something that most women do in order to change or enhance their appearance. I appreciate the fact that Denielle admitted that she does not have all the answers herself despite being a women of color herself. She can only speak for the experiences she herself has gone through. Her concept about the hair, something I somehow completely forgot, really pushed that the idea that the more white a feature is the more beautiful it is.

Case in point, when Denielle stated that even she fell victim to using relaxers in her hair, it made me think of the recent gold medalist Gabby Douglas. Forget the fact that this young accomplished something that most Americans fail to do, the only thing people seemed to care about was that her hair looked nappy. Her hair is that of a normal African American girl. It was not nappy or sticking out, but no one could seem to talk about anything other than her hair rather than the fact that she just won a gold metal. Though my previous essay stated that the Black Aesthetic is practiced more today than at any other time, this article made me realize that it may not be preached as much as I initially thought.

The second post I read was Rachel Risinger’s “All the Money in the World Will Not Buy You Any Class.” This post was very interesting in the fact that it made me explore ideas that are not as prevalent when you are engrossed simply on the distinctions between people solely on their skin color. The idea of class distinctions plays a major factor in the oppression of the freed African American people. Despite their freedom, they are subject to fight against those that would still put the African American beneath them just because they are not as financially resourceful as them. Even those southern white men who are financially less off than the southern black men will not seek any assistance from the black man. They would rather put themselves at the mercy of the more wealthy white man than be treated as a person who is “race trading.”

According to Risinger, those poor Black men who are on the same financial level of those white men are automatically given a lower class standing simply because they are black. I know this concept should be obvious but it is not something I thought about right off the bat. She hits it home when she brings up the topic of name characteristics for white and black men on the same poor financial level as she states that black men are deemed lazy and ignorant while white men are deemed unfortunate or dim. This seems true even by today’s standards. Though we have cruel names for all races in the United States, the names we or bad qualities we given those of African American decent are much harsher than almost any other race.

            My last research post was Amy Sidle’s “Because Not Every Author is an Old, White Guy: Why We Read Minority Literature.” This was by far the most interesting Research Post I read this semester so far. I understand that Frederick Douglass was a very important minority author, but I did not realize his importance in today’s standards. Being a literature major myself, I love how Sidle uses Douglass as an example for the importance of reading and writing. Without these tools, Douglass may never have been able to reach the freedom he wanted and deserved. It is an excellent push for those still in school to take away as much as they can from authors and the stories that we provide them with in class today. There is an importance to not only learning how to read and write, but to read and write well, and Douglass is a prime example of this fact.

            I also found it interesting how Douglass pushed for the freedom of all, not solely the freedom of the African American slaves. I did not realize that Douglass was blind to color. Sometimes when you are reading these narratives, you are so consumed with the individual’s plight for their own race that you don’t take the time to see that their plight is also for any race who is kept under any terms of slavery. The fact that Douglass not only pushed for the freedom of all men, but stressed an inner acceptance of oneself really makes me admire this author even more than I did before. Sidle is right in implying that Douglass is great because he focuses on the improving the self as a key component in his life. It all begins with you. If you have faith and believe in yourself and do all you can to better yourself, you can achieve anything your heart desires. Douglass believed this. Amy Sidle seems to believe this. I believe this as well.