Amy Sidle

“Because Not Every Author is an Old, White Guy: Why We Read Minority Literature”

Research Post #1

            As a student, I do not recall reading or learning about minority literature. Sure, it was mentioned during February’s Black History Month with a reference to Dr. King or a Langston Hughes poem, but the only minority character I remember is Jim, Mark Twain’s runaway slave from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. As our country continues to become a melting pot of all kinds of people and moves toward a “post-racial” society, it is imperative that we as educators represent all of literature.

            Students respond well to authors and characters to whom they can relate; there needs to be a connection while reading in order for the assigned reading not to feel like punishment – sadly, one of the consequences of repetitively tedious selections that deter our children from reading. It is with minority authors like Frederick Douglass that spark an interest in students; his non-fiction story describes adversity, relationships, and achievement – all parts of a teenager’s daily life.

Douglass teaches students about the importance of education. For all those students who claim to “hate” school or wish to be anywhere but in a classroom, Douglass, through his firsthand account, shows that literacy and education is the key to anyone’s success:

She very kindly commenced to teach me the A, B, C…From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom…Though conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read (Douglass 37, 217).

It is through Douglass’ self-education, his drive to succeed, that shows independence and autonomy – an important lesson, indeed.

We read Douglass because his “rhetorical prowess is legendary,” but also because “his repeated use of biblical and folk proverbs” which “add authoritative and generational wisdom to his arguments” show Douglass’ immense intellectual and literary knowledge (Mieder 332).

In his column “The Party of Lincoln, and of Douglass: Rediscovering Frederick Douglass in the Age of Obama,” Jonathan Bean declares that “there was nothing ‘simple’ about this giant of a man. We remember him as a fugitive slave and fiery abolitionist, we forget that he developed a coherent classical liberal philosophy based on natural law and natural rights” (Bean).

Douglass’ “antiracist, classical liberal tradition,” more commonly basic civil rights, “dominated struggles for most of our nation’s history” (Bean). Douglass was preaching rights for humanity long before it was fashionable. “Again and again, later figures cited Douglass and his natural rights liberalism as argument against Chinese exclusion, against Japanese internment, and for Jewish immigration from Nazi Germany when FDR and Congress” declined (Bean). Douglass “unfailingly opposed any man’s exercising control over another” (Bean). For teenagers, Douglass’ efforts to define himself and to have his voice heard correspond to the students’ similar struggles.

After the Civil War “in a world obsessed with skin color,” Douglass “never succumbed to the poisonous practice of race-based politics,” but rather preached for “colorblindness” (Bean). He considered “himself a member of the one race that exists” (Douglass). Douglass teaches our students the importance of seeing past race and to embrace our “oneness” as sisters and brothers of the world.

            Even with all of Douglass’ teachings on education and race, the core of his philosophies started with the self. He claimed to “embody three keys to success in life:”

            1. Believe in yourself.

2. Take advantage of every opportunity.

3. Use the power of spoken and written language to effect positive change for yourself and society.

Douglass teaches students to take responsibility for their life, to use their education for good, and to seek for the impossible, for he claims that "What is possible for me is possible for you” (Douglass). While students might see these maxims on posters in school or preached to them by teachers, hearing it from Douglass himself, one who truly struggled, inspires them to actually take his words under consideration.

In my advanced English class, we use a superb reader that includes Sojourner Truth, Brent Staples, Toni Morrison, Nora Zeale Hurston, Frederick Douglass, Dr. King, Malcolm X, and a plethora of other minority authors. I enjoy this anthology because it exposes students to the best excerpts or short stories these authors have penned. If the excerpt we read and discuss in class is as far as their exposure goes, then they have read some of the most renowned and celebrated African American literature; however, I couple these excerpts with a suggested reading list which includes the authors’ novels appropriate for high school students. Often students will check out a library book as the students are intrigued by the author’s words in the excerpt and seek to learn more. We should all seek to learn more.

            In doing research for this post, I found numerous elementary, charter and high schools named for Frederick Douglass. I find this act one of the most rewarding in remembering all the good he has done for humanity and in teaching his theories and dreams to all those that come along.

Works Cited

Bean, Jonathan. “The Party of Lincoln, and of Douglass: Rediscovering Frederick Douglass in the

Age of Obama.” National Review Online. 4 July 2009. <http://article.nationalreview.com/399100/the-party-of-lincoln-and-of-douglass/jonathan-bean>.

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. New York:

            Penguin Group, 2005.

Douglass, Frederick. “A Short Biography of Frederick Douglass.” Fremarjo Enterprises, Inc. 2004.

            < http://www.frederickdouglass.org/douglass_bio.html>.

Mieder, Wolfgang. “’Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You’; Frederick

Douglass’s Proverbial Struggle for Civil Rights.” The Journal of American Folklore. 114.453 (Summer 2001): 331-57. JSTOR. U of H, Clear Lake, TX. 15 March 2010

<http://libproxy.uhcl.edu:2093/stable/542026?seq=1&Search=yes&term=Frederick&term=Douglass&term=read&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dwhy%2Bdo%2Bwe%2Bread%2BFrederick%2BDouglass%26wc%3Don%26dc%3DAfrican%2BAmerican%2BStudies%26dc%3DEducation%26dc%3DHistory%26dc%3DLanguage%2B%2526amp%253B%2BLiterature%26dc%3DSlavic%2BStudies&item=4&ttl=4953&returnArticleService=showArticle&resultsServiceName=doBasicResultsFromArticle>.