LITR 5731: Seminar in American Minority Literature
University of Houston-Clear Lake, Fall 2001
Sample Student Midterm

Jennifer Thurik
October 2, 2001
Dr. Craig White
Mid-term LITR 5731

A Dream Revised

            America was founded on the belief that "all men are created equal." However, a question must be posed which asks who constitutes "men" and what is "equal"? Where do women fit into the picture? What about minorities? The Declaration of Independence serves as the framework for rules that govern the people who fall beneath it, but who were the architects of the infamous work? They were white, upper class, men. They looked at slavery as a grievous sin, yet they allowed it to occur for decades. Immigrants from all parts of the country came to America to be free from persecution and terror; unfortunately, people were not free in America’s own backyard. Why did hundreds of thousands of people leave their homes to start fresh in a new world? The answer is simple; they wanted a glimpse of the American Dream, but that look into a prosperous future was not for all people. The founding fathers left an enormous hole in the document that established the first set of rules that would govern this new country. They did not include minorities in their representation of men being equal. The only ones who were considered equal were immigrants who came on their own, who left their past behind them, and who kept their social structures in tact. For everyone else, they learned soon enough that they must abandon that dream for one that favors setbacks, the need to rise again, and a quest for group dignity.

            From the time that Africans were taken from their country and enslaved in a new world, they have fought to retain dignity and grace in circumstances that were deplorable. Even slaves who were well taken care of were not able to realize the dream they once had of being free again. Africans are different from other immigrants because they did not leave their homes voluntarily. They were captured and brought to their new homes in chains. America came to the Africans; the Africans did not come to America. In many pieces of African-American literature, the "voiceless and choiceless" mentality can be seen. In Incidents in a Life of a Slave Girl, Linda Brent recounts a time when her voice and choice were not heard. She was fifteen and her master, Dr. Flint, whispered impure and unclean statements in her ears that never left young Linda’s mind.

                        I turned from him with disgust and hatred. But he was my master. I                        was compelled to live under the same roof with him.... there is no                               shadow of law to protect her from insult, from violence, or even                               from death; all these are inflicted by fiends who bear the shape of                          men. (361)

Linda is embarrassed, angry, and ashamed to be subjected to this level of comment from a middle-aged man with a wife and children. Yet, she is unable to escape those words, even after she has escaped from his grasp. A slave has no choice in the path his or her life takes. They did not choose to come to America; they did not choose whose home they served; they had no voluntary actions to speak of. They were involuntary participants in a society that needed them. The South would not have been as prosperous and fertile had it not been for the free labor that slaves provided. Blacks were forced to work and labor for little or no pay and they reaped little or no benefits from that backbreaking work.

            The lack of choice in a slave’s future is explored in another narrative about Elaudah Equiano. He recounts his story of him and his sister being kidnapped from home, bound, gagged, and taken far away from their people. They were sold into slavery and brought to America. He states that his mind was full of thoughts about being free. Frederick Douglass also examines a similar aspect in his narrative as he watches the ships enter the harbor and he realizes he can never be that free again. The ships only remind him of a life that he will never be able to control. Like Linda, Douglass escapes slavery for a life in the North where he is free; however, the Dream is still out of reach. Neither escaped slave will have a prosperous life like they believed when they were forced into slavery. Their dream is never realized because they do not meet the unstated criteria set forth in the founding document or our country.

            Decades later, Toni Morrison relates a story of Milkman and the fact that his voice is not listened to even though he is not a slave. Song of Solomon tells of his journey through life and the fact that as a child, his name came from a shameful act that he wanted no part of.

                        When he came into the little room she unbuttoned her blouse and                          smiled. He was too young to be dazzled by her nipples, but he was                 old enough to be bored by the flat taste of mother’s milk, so he                              came reluctantly, as to a chore, and lay as he had at least once                            each day of his life in his mother’s arms, and tried to pull the thin,                            faintly    sweet mild from her flesh without hurting her with his teeth.                                   (13)

This act embarrassed Ruth and Macon Jr. because he was never able to shake the nickname and it did not improve either one’s relationship with his father. Milkman could not control the whims of his mother though he suspected the act was wrong. Macon did not respect his son’s voice as seen when Milkman strikes his father for striking his mother. Milkman does not want to hear Macon’s explanations for his behavior and is appalled that Macon insists on describing the indiscriminant nature of Ruth’s attachment to her father as the excuse for Milkman’s father’s treatment of his mother. As confusion quickly turns to anger, Milkman reflects on his thoughts at the time and the fact that his words were ignored by Macon. Instead of letting the situation be and making apologies, "He comes to me with some way-out tale of how come and why" (76). Milkman did not want to participate in this discussion, but he had no choice.

            Sapphire tells the tale of Precious Jones and the injustices this young woman suffers because her voice is ignored until she feels she does not even exist. Precious was forced to participate in events before she even had a voice to listen to. When she was still in diapers, sexual abuse started at the hands of her father and was allowed to continue at the bequest of her mother (135). Her mother even participates in the abuse.

                        I feel Mama’s hand between my legs, moving up my thigh. Her                              hand stop, she getting ready to pinch me if I move. I just lay still                                  still, keep my eyes close. I can tell Mama’s other hand between her                         legs now ‘cause the smell fill the room.... God Please! Thank you                          god I say as I fall asleep. (21)

Here, God hears her cries and lets her go to sleep as her mother is molesting her; however, this is an uncommon occurrence. Upon thinking about an incident of incest, she "... wait for him to get off me. Lay there stare at wall till wall is a movie..." (111). Then she thinks, "How is something a memory if you never forgit" (112)? Not only must Precious contend with these horrible memories of events that she could not control or stop, she must also accept the fact that she cannot control the information that is contained in her file. However, as she gains confidence at being able to read and write, she exerts control by taking her file and reading what is inside it. We first notice the file when the principal summons Precious into her office upon realizing she is pregnant again (7). When she goes to the alternative school, her file is already waiting on her (27). This worries Precious because she believes she is getting a new start and she begins to wonder what is in that file that follows her around like a lost puppy because if someone wants to mess with her, they have everything they need (28). When no one will tell her what’s in her file, she steals it (118). This file represents Precious’ life, not having access to it or being able to control who does have it represents a common thread that ties African-Americans together- their lack of control over their own situation. How can any of these wonderful characters hold on to the American Dream they so desperately want when the architects of the Dream didn’t write it for them?

            The American Dream is sustained in the belief that we are equal and that working hard, following rules, and being a good person will result in the obtaining of that dream; however, immigrants who came to America on their own could leave their past behind and start creating a new future, Africans do not have that luxury. Their past follows them. It is like an open wound that cannot heal. They are drawn to reconnect with their past and their roots. Until they do so, their dream remains unrealized. Douglass experiences a desire to discover his true age. He has no idea when his birthday is. A practice and celebration from the first day of your life eludes Douglass. He longs to discover his past, and once he escapes from slavery, one would think the chance to be free and independent would be obtainable; unfortunately, that is not the case of a slave. Although he is no longer tied to the side of a man, he must face prejudice and upheaval that follows him wherever he sets down. Until he can reconnect with his history and past, he cannot be free to follow that dream.

            Milkman goes on a different journey that Douglass does. He was never a slave. His family has money and education; however, Milkman is not satisfied in Song of Solomon. He longs to be connected to his past. He leaves everything behind to discover his roots, and his journey, though it leads to his death, is accomplished for he is free. His dream has been reached, but he cannot reap its benefits. Milkman cannot enjoy the success he shares with his family until he finds his people from the South. He retraces the history that he gathered from his family and recounts it to his people in Georgia where he discovers more truth and more myths. This revisiting of his roots is a characteristic of Africans, even if they are not direct descendants of Africa. Their dream cannot be accomplished until they are sure where their people belonged centuries before the recent generations existed.

            In Push, the same desire to retrace roots is shown in the journal of Precious. Her life is one of poverty, abuse, sadness, and hopelessness. It is not until she learns to read and write that she is confident enough to examine, write, and talk about the horrible events that happened to her. At this point, Precious is able to confront and stand up to her mother, raise her young child, and begin to build a life separate from the one filled with turmoil and hurt. Through the journal, Precious is able to tell her story to her teacher, her therapist, herself, and her mother. She is given control in a world where she had limited choices because she is able to read, write, and express her feelings. Her strength lies in the fact that learning language helps Precious come to terms with her history and gives her permission to revisit the abuse and incest suffered upon her so that she can learn to deal with it, use it to gain strength, and set her sights on accomplishing the dream that eludes many African-Americans.

            Another factor that keeps blacks from reaching the American Dream they so desire is the fact that the family structure is different. From the times of slavery to modern day society, Africans have not held traditional family structures like other cultural groups. In many of the slave narratives such as those by Douglass, Equiano, and Jacobs, countless stories are told about families being torn apart because of slavery. Jacobs recounts a story of a woman who saw all ten of her children sold and dispersed to parts unknown. When Linda’s mulatto son becomes ill, she is torn between praying for him to die so he will not have to suffer what she has and loving him so much she cannot let him go. Many slaves bear children from their masters. When the mistress discovers that, she will send the children away. Babies are pulled from the breast to prevent attachment to the parent or to make the parent work harder for contact with their child. When slaves are sold from plantation to plantation, new bonds must be formed with the slaves that they must now live with. This is certainly not the way a traditional family is reared which is one reason why Africans must settle for an alternate dream.

            In Song of Solomon, Pilate is a prime example of not existing in a traditional family setting. When their father died, Macon and Pilate were separated and sent to live with relatives or, in Pilate’s case, live a nomadic life traveling from place to place. They had no contact with each other because of a disagreement that occurred a few days after their father was murdered. Pilate is not married, doesn’t want to be married, and lives a life that is not full of possessions such as her brother has. Her life is full of song, dance, and happiness. Macon’s life is full of wealth, security, and material items, but unlike Pilate, he longs for more of what she has. One evening he takes a different route home and passes by his sister’s house. He is attracted to the music and liveliness that is occurring inside the walls. He wants to be closer to it and is drawn to it, yet, he will not admit his longing and goes about his way. In a traditional family structure, Macon and Pilate would have stayed together and helped each other through such a rough time; however, because they did not stay together, neither one has achieved the dream that many strive for. Although Macon is successful and wealthy, he is very unhappy and unsatisfied with the turn his life has taken. His son leaves him to search for the family truth that tore Macon’s family apart.

            Precious is yet another example of how African-Americans struggle to achieve the American dream because of their lack of a stable, traditional family structure. Her father has an incestual relationship with her that produces two children. One is severely retarded, whereas the other is relatively healthy. However, the father is in and out of his families’ life. The mother sends the baby girl to live with a grandmother and lies to the social service department to get more money in her welfare check. Precious is suffocating in that tiny apartment. It is not until she goes to the Alternative School that she finds a family there to care for her and her baby. They teach Precious to read and write. They provide her with legal aid and they place her into a halfway house where the residents and aides help Precious with her education, raising her child, and getting control of her life. This is the first family that has given this young disturbed girl any reflection of what a family is, yet at the same time, this is an alternative family that cannot help Precious enough to utilize and realize the dream so many people strive for everyday.

            People come to America in search of a new beginning to a life they have never been able to achieve in their home country. They are looking to obtain the American Dream of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, yet when they did not come freely, when they cannot forget their history, and when they settle for alternate social structures, achieving that ideal is not easily obtainable, so they settle for a dream that favors setbacks, the desire and need to rise again, and the emphasis on keeping the group dignified in the face of abuse, prejudice, and injustice. African American literature expresses and demonstrates examples of these dilemmas through the fabulous story telling of the authors. The Classic Slave Narratives tell stories of a time in America when Africans were considered property, not people who have dreams, families, and goals they want to achieve. Song of Solomon recounts the regressive tale of a young man’s journey from his present back to his past to the time his life ends, and Push gives very intimate insight to a young abused girl who is fighting to survive. All of these stories have characters who have hopes and dreams of being successful, but fall short in some way because the Declaration of Independence did not include them and the desire to reach the American Dream is not an open invitation to Africans like it is to other immigrant groups. They are not voluntary participants in American society; therefore, they must settle for less than others have to. They must fight twice as hard to have half as much as others.