LITR 5731:
Seminar in American Minority Literature
University of
Houston-Clear Lake, Fall 2001
Sample Student Midterm
Jamie Grayson
LITR 5731: Seminar in American Minority Literature
Dr. Craig White
September 27, 2001
Racial
Superiority
The man who is a bigot
is the worst thing God has got,
except his match, his woman,
who really is Ms. Begot.
Maya Angelou
(Angelou 226)
African-Americans often are discriminated against, suffer from a barrage
of racial remarks, and even endure racially based acts of violence.
Unfortunately, this crime against humanity goes both ways. Those being oppressed
may retaliate as a matter of self-defense, sometimes becoming that which they
despise most. In many cases the Black man is forced into developing racist mores
against the White man due to past history and to the fact that Whites
discriminate against them. The victim of oppression can become the oppressor
and, in fact, this 'reverse racism' may easily develop into a feeling of
superiority for Black people. Although both parties, Black and White racists,
suffer from the belief that their own race is the superior one, it could be said
that the Black community is oftentimes more justified in their beliefs. Black
writer, Sapphire is quoted as saying "One of the myths we've been taught,
is that oppression creates moral superiority. I'm here to tell you that the more
oppressed a person is, the more oppressive they will be" (Walker, Fall
2001). I believe it not only creates a more oppressive group of people, but a
group that believes they are morally superior. This moral superiority is evident
in the writings and the personal lives of Olaudah Equiano, Toni Morrison,
Sapphire and Maya Angelou. These writers display a common point of view held
among many African-Americans in their views of Africa versus America, morality
among Whites versus morality among Blacks, and racial inferiority versus racial
superiority.
African-Americans often form comparisons between Africa, the country they
were forcibly removed from, and America. Former slave, Olaudah Equiano, relates
details of his home country of Africa in The Interesting Narrative of the
Life of Olaudah Equiano. In comparing the cultural aspects of his home
country of Africa he says, "We are almost a nation of dancers, musicians,
and poets." All joyful occasions are celebrated with great ceremonies of
dancing, feasting, and music. The women wear golden jewelry (14), both men and
women perfume themselves, and cleanliness is of the utmost importance (15).
Neighbors help one another build homes and there are plenty of all natural
resources. Equiano states, "we live in a country where nature is prodigal
of her favours, our wants are few, and easily supplied" (16). "Our
land is uncommonly rich and fruitful, and produces all kinds of vegetable in
great abundance" (17). Equiano’s opinion of America is not as positive.
In America he must deal with the frustration of not being able to speak the same
language as fellow slaves. He is introduced to many new, frightening and curious
contraptions. For example, he witnesses a female slave in an iron muzzle, he
sees a picture of a man on a wall that frightens him, and he discovers a clock
for the first time. Equiano, who was fanning his master while he slept, kept a
watchful eye on the clock and "was afraid it would tell the gentleman
anything [he] might do amiss." Equiano also must suffer the disrespect of
not being able to keep his own name. During his time en route to Virginia, and
once there, he bears the name of Michael, Jacob, and finally Gustavus Vassa
(39-40). But it is the evils of slavery that make the most impact on Equiano’s
view of America. He recounts numerous tales of slaves and their masters that are
disturbing, violent and horrifying. If we examine the comparisons made by
Equiano between Africa and America, it is plain to see which of the countries he
believes contains the superior race of people.
Not only do general comparisons of the two countries make it apparent
that Equiano favors Africa, but so do specific occurrences. Such is the case
when two obviously less educated men accost him. Once they learn Equiano is
literate and well spoken, they choose to abandon their plan of kidnapping him
(118). It
is in this instance that Equiano displays his individual superiority against the
White men. There are also many instances while Equiano tries to sell his goods
while in different ports. The White men assume that, because he is Black, he is
easily taken advantage of. But in most cases, Equiano pursues the wrongdoers
with every means possible. Although justice does not always prevail, Equiano is
a proud man who stands up for his rights and has respect for himself, no matter
what the general consensus may be among White people.
In another episode, Equiano feels some
satisfaction knowing he’s not the only one to look down on some Whites because
there are even other Whites that look down on the actions of their fellow race.
For instance, there was a case in which a fellow sailor, a White man, borrows a
guinea from Equiano with no intentions of paying him back. Although Equiano
never receives payment, he tells the ship’s crew of the man’s deed. Equiano
admits feeling "some satisfaction in seeing him detested and despised by
them all for his behaviour to me" (67). Again, the Black man is in the
right, thus proving, at least to Equiano as an individual, that he is morally
superior to his White counterparts.
In Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon,
the character Guitar expresses his dislike for the White race and his intentions
to combat their cruelty to the Black race. Guitar is a member of the Seven Days
Group, in which his duties are to note the murders committed against Black
people by a White person on a given day of the week. His duty is to then commit
the same act suffered by the Black person onto a random White person. "Four
little colored girls had been blown out of a church, and his mission was to
approximate as best he could a similar death of four little white girls some
Sunday, since he was the Sunday man" (173). This is Guitar’s moral
battle, his battle for what is right. To him, justice is only served by evening
the score; an eye for an eye, a White life for a Black life.
Sapphire describes what it’s like being a
Black woman in this day and age. Reading that thirty-seven Black churches have
been burned within a year, and that in the year 1996, she can still "stand
on the corner of St. Marks and Broadway and have a cab pass by [her] and stop in
front of two white people…" (Walker, Fall 2001).
According to Sapphire’s Precious Jones
in Push, "Crackers is the cause of everything bad. It why my father
act like he do" (34). Precious blames the White race for the physical and
sexual abuse she suffers at the hands of her own father because "He has
forgot he is the Original Man" (34). Precious has been raised to view the
White race as lacking in morality, rather than blaming her incestuous, vile
father for his own faults. She bases her blame on Louis Farrakhan’s slave
stories: "I think what my fahver do is what Farrakhan said the White man
did to the Black woman. Oh it was terrible and he dood it in front of the Black
man; that’s really terrible. …This spozed to hurt the Black man even more
that it hurt the woman getting rape – for the Black man to have to see this
raping" (68). How many Black children are brought up with stories such as
this one, and what role do they play in perpetuating the hatred of Whites?
"Miz Rain say we is a nation of raped children, that the black man in
America today is the product of rape" (68-69). How many authority figures
are instilling these racist beliefs into Precious Jones’ head?
This perpetuation of hatred for another
race can lead to feelings of superiority in the opposing race. Of course, if the
feelings against the other race do not reach this extreme, then there are, at
the very least, feelings of inferiority placed on the opposing race. In other
words, because of all the hateful and cruel experiences suffered at the hands of
the White man, the Black man may begin to view his own race as superior in many
ways to the oppressing White race. Sir John Mandeville stated in The Travels
of Sir John Mandeville that "if they [Africans] were to paint an angel
and a devil, they would paint the angel black and the devil white" (64).
This gives one an idea of how the Africans viewed the White race before ever
really being exposed to all the horrors of slavery.
Toni Morrison grew up under the influence of her father, who held to the
rigid point of view that the Black race was indeed superior to the White race.
In an interview with "60 Minutes", Morrison is quoted as saying of her
father, "He simply felt that he was better, superior to all White
people." She went on to explain that "his experience had taught him
that he was always in the company of inferior people when he was surrounded by
Whites. You know, he didn't let White people in the house." This may be
attributed to the fact that, when 2 years old, Morrison's home was set on fire
by White people as a means of evicting her and her parents. Morrison was asked
her personal feelings on the topic of superiority of the Black race and if she
had taken her father's point of view. She simply stated that she did not write
about Whites, or have any major White characters in her novels because they are
of no interest to her. What she finds interesting is, "what is going on in
the community. And within the community, there are no major White players. Once
I thought, 'what is life like if they weren't there?’ Which is the way I-We
lived it, the way I lived it" (Morrison, Jet). Evidence of Morrison’s
personal experiences, the influence of her father, and feelings of moral
superiority over White people are seen in her writings. For example, in
Morrison’s Song of Solomon, there is an incident in which Macon’s
wife, Ruth, takes part in the Holy Sacrament. The Holy Sacrament in a Catholic
church is reserved for Catholics. Because Ruth is Methodist, and because she is
attending a White man’s funeral, her actions are a source of great
embarrassment to Macon (66). I believe Macon is not only embarrassed by his
wife’s feigned ignorance, but more embarrassed by the fact that it occurred in
the presence of White people. I believe that because he is a landowner and
businessman, he feels he deserves the respect and recognition of the White
people (just as Ruth’s father, Dr. Foster had). Macon’s anger at Ruth is not
based solely on her embarrassing actions, but more so on the status of Macon’s
reputation among the Whites.
Feelings of racial superiority are also
evident in works by Maya Angelou. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,
Angelou describes when one of the poor ‘White trash’ children that lived
near Angelou’s grandmother approached the grandmother one afternoon. She
walked right up, with a few other White children, and without a word did a
handstand on the lawn in front of the grandmother’s porch. She wore a dress
that fell over her head to reveal that she had no underwear on. The White child
did this in order to embarrass and degrade Angelou’s grandmother, as Angelou
looked on. She recalls that during this spectacle her grandmother "was
quietly watchful and at one point even sang a gospel song. Angelou’s
grandmother valued maintaining her dignity even when the children not only acted
obscenely disrespectful, but also obviously attempted to disrupt her calm and
respectable demeanor. Here, Angelou conveys the need many Blacks feel to meet
such potentially humiliating attacks with dignity, even while Whites gaudily and
hatefully throw theirs away" (Davis 138). Being a witness to this
experience undoubtedly left Angelou feeling morally superior, as a race and as a
human being, considering the actions of the White child versus the response of
her dignified grandmother.
In regards to Olaudah Equiano and his
horrendous experiences among the White race, one would think that he would be
the most racist of all the writers previously mentioned. But rather than
harboring feelings of racial superiority, Equiano’s Christian beliefs kept him
from falling into this way of thinking. Equiano’s lives by the
Christian adage, "To do unto all men as I would they should do unto
me" (Equiano 87).
When examining the question of assimilation
or resistance, Equiano is a perfect example of assimilation. He suffered through
many ordeals, overcoming his situation, becoming a successful merchant, buying
his freedom, becoming a Christian, and going on to write a wonderful narrative.
Eventually, even the former slave’s notion of moral superiority breaks down.
Equiano "views the border between free men and slaves as tenuous, permeable
enough to disappear in three years or, more astonishing, in a few pages. It
seems on the one hand that Equiano feels the need to soften his ways and his
perceptions of Englishmen once he is living among them" (Benito, Manzanas
51).
However, not all members of the oppressed
Black race assimilate in quite the same fashion as Equiano. In fact, some join
in with the oppressing culture by becoming oppressive themselves. They
assimilate by being as racist against Whites as Whites are against Blacks.
Unfortunately, the oppressed may become the oppressors through assimilation into
the White culture.
In order to understand this transition into
feelings of racial superiority through comparisons of Africa versus America,
White morality versus Black morality, and racial inferiority versus superiority,
one must listen to the minority voice. This voice can be heard through
literature of many great Black writers. Sapphire states, "All literature
has an effect, but being part of a group declared inferior, especially
intellectually inferior, makes reading the great literature that Black people
have produced very significant" (Walker, Fall 2001). Just as Whites are
racist against Blacks and vice versa, all overcome this once we come to know a
person on a personal level.
Works
Cited
Angelou, Maya. The Complete Collected
Poems of Maya Angelou. New York: Random House, 1994.
Benito, Jesus, and Ana Manzanas. "The
(De-)Construction of the "Other" in The
Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano."
Black Imagination and the
Middle Passage. Ed. Maria Diedrich,
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Carl Pedersen. New York: Oxford UP, 1999: 47-56.
Davis, Jane. The White Image in the Black
Mind: A Study of African American
Literature. Westport, CT: Greenwood
Press, 2000.
Equiano, Olaudah. "The Interesting
Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano." The Classic Slave Narratives.
Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. New York: Putnam,
1987: 1-182.
Mandeville, Sir John. The Travels of Sir
John Mandeville. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1983, p.64.
Morrison, Toni_Guest. Personal Interview. Jet
31 August 1998. www.findarticles.com
(10 Sept. 2001).
Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. New
York: Penguin Group, 1977.
Sapphire_Guest. Personal Interview by
Carletta Joy Walker. www.foodcoop.com (13 Sept. 2001).
Sapphire. Push. New York: Random
House, 1997.