Lost Identity

While reading Hopkins’ story and the poems by McKay, I started to wonder about the attitudes and mindsets of African Americans during these terrible times and situations. Many of them were contributing members of society (as much as they could be), and they were no longer enslaved, yet they were still treated as second class citizens and encountered so much hatred and torture. I am curious as to how they dealt with all for it and how they still had loyalty to America and other white citizens. I feel that if I were in the same situation, I would fins any way to get out or I would have a bitterness toward everyone. They were still willing to help other whit citizens and they wanted to stay in a place where people made it evident that they were not wanted. In Hopkins’ story, Stone was charged of a crime he didn’t commit, yet he was still willing to work hard and he even risked his life to save a train full of white citizens. He didn’t take out his feelings on people that didn’t deserve it and it was almost as if he pushed his terrible feelings to the back of his mind because he wanted to work for a better life. Also, in Mckay’s poems, many of them explore the idea of being unwanted and oppressed in the US, still loving it somehow.  “Although she feeds me bread of bitterness, And sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth, Stealing my breath of life, I will confess I love this cultured hell that tests my youth!” (America, McKay) My guess as to how African Americans continued with their lives and did not have hateful attitudes was just that they had extreme hope for change in the future and that maybe they could lead by example somewhat “kill them with kindness.” Also, they might have just felt stuck in the middle of two identities because they lived in the US, but weren’t really citizens, yet they couldn’t really go back to their home of origin because they felt like outsiders in Africa too.

Moment of Insight

When I was reading “Learning to Read” and “The Wife of his Youth” I was confronted by a few realizations about things that we now take for granted or seem to just ignore because we get so wrapped up in ourselves.

“Learning to Read” made me realize how much Americans as well as myself take reading for granted. I wouldn’t call myself an avid reader unless I’m really interested in a book, but the ability is something I should be more thankful for. I have the resources to read as much and as often as I wish, but I just choose not to. In our lives we have become so distracted by our busy lives or other things involving technology and we really undervalue the gift of the written word. As a journalism major, I am constantly writing and the only things that I really read are newspapers or articles online. After reflecting on Harper’s “Learning to Read”, the difficult process gaining literacy for African Americans was called to my attention and I realized how fortunate we really are that we have such easy access to education. I feel that in order to memorialize the struggles of those that came before me, I should really take advantage of my educational resources and pass it on to others.

“The Wife of his Youth” also led me to an understanding and insight, however, of a completely different kind. Mr. Ryder’s process of struggling with his own regret and deciding what is ultimately right caused me to reflect on our own struggle with doing what is right in contemporary society. I think a lot of people today feel that we as a society have stepped away from values and morals and now just focus on ourselves and selfish thoughts. I was really surprised that Mr. Ryder recognized his own wrong-doing of neglecting his wife, by taking her back in the end and announcing it to his peers. When he explained the situation to his peers and asked for their opinions, I wondered if he would have stuck with his decision to reveal his long-lost wife if they had felt otherwise. Even though I was skeptical about Mr. Ryder’s heart and motives at first, I do think that he would have acknowledge her anyway because that is the right thing to do. That was the ultimate realization I took away from this text. We need to stop being so concerned with what others around us think, and be more concerned on doing what is right and staying true to ourselves. As corny as it might be, it made me think of the saying,” What is popular is not always right, and what is right is not always popular.”

The Contemporary Connection

While reading the introduction for the years 1865-1914, I noticed an encompassing connection to contemporary society. I felt that many facets and attitudes during this period after the Civil War related to our lives after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.  First, after the Civil War, the country was in a state of shock in trauma after the horrific event that occurred during the war. That was the same for the United States following 9/11. Americans were still in a state of panic, but at the same time we all drew closer together in order to just cope with what happened and the great devastation. Everyone suffered some sort of loss on that day, whether we directly knew someone that died or not. For many people it was mainly a loss of feeling secure in the land that we called home. From that point on we wanted to restore hope and try to pick up the pieces in order to rebuild our nation’s morale, just like Americans after the Civil War.

Another connection I made was in the theme for literature and other forms of entertainment during both of these periods. After the Civil War, authors were writing about loved ones lost, rebuilding the nation, and being courageous.  After 9/11 many others wrote about their experiences during the attacks or the experiences of other Americans, as well as many other books on how to deal with the devastation. Film and music were also affected because numerous movies have been made about the terrorist attacks and songs have been written about restoring the idea of patriotism. After the Civil War, John Greenleaf Whittier gained fame with his “nostalgic evocation of a simpler, rural world that had been destroyed by the Civil War” in Snow-Bound.(24) That same destruction of innocence and security can be connected to our post-9/11 America. We are now constantly bombarded with memories of that fateful day because of all the security measures that are currently in place in the United States, especially in regards to airport security. Our lives before 9/11 were definitely a much simpler time, but now the United States will never be the same because we constantly have another attack on our minds.

A third connection that I found was the treatment of minorities after both the Civil War and 9/11. Immediately after the Civil War, African Americans were treated terribly, possibly worse than they were as slaves. The Jim Crowe laws were enacted and they were also being blamed and brutalized by the Ku Klux Klan. Many people hated them just because of their race and did not want them in the United States. It reminded me of the treatment and stereotyping of Americans of Middle-Eastern descent after 9/11. People became very paranoid and unfairly stereotyped everyone as a terrorist just because of their race. Once again we started to turn our citizens against each other because of skin color.

Journal #8 Response to Lacy McGrath

In Lacy’s journal she discusses the similar use of Christianity in “John Brown’s Last Speech” and Jefferson Davis’s Inaugural Speech.” I thought this was a really interesting point to further investigate because these two men obviously had very different views on slavery yet they have a common bond because they are using their faith as a tool to relate and draw in their audience. Lacy said that since people’s lives revolved around God at that time, they pretty much believed and trusted something if it was in reference to their religion. These two men obviously knew what they were doing when they cited the will of God in their speeches in order to appeal to their audience. They knew that people were more likely to agree with their views if they trusted in God and felt it was their religious duty to either abolish slavery or preserve the Confederacy and slavery.

I really liked that Lacy discussed specifically what each man viewed as his duty to God. John Brown said that the Bible taught him that he should be helping his less fortunate enslaved brothers and sisters. Davis states that he feels he will be judged righteously by God and everyone that has acted in the same manner as he, will also be approved by God. He doesn’t believe that God disapproves of his actions in regard to slavery or in trying to preserve the government that our founding fathers laid out.

I didn’t really notice the similarities in using Christian references until after I read Lacy’s journal. She did a really excellent job of discussing both men’s points and beliefs and how they would appeal to the different opinions at the time. I also started think about how people in this time were really set in their ways concerning slavery and once they brought God into the matter, it became even more heated. When religion is involved people aren’t usually willing to budge in their views and it is really astounding what lengths people will go to when they believe that it is God’s will for them to do so. It is also so strange how two people can have a common religion to bind them together, but have such opposing views on what God wants them to do or what is morally right.