chibicandy01's Diaryland Diary

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paper 2 again

Candice Williams
English 101
Prof. Lardner
Critique
February 11, 2005
Black and White; thus kept an imagined slight.
Farai Chideya provides the better argument in her article, America Culture is Multiracial Culture, which offers a more passionate outlook on the ‘Generational gap,’ those born before or after the Civil Rights Era, and the more mixing cultural diversity of today; whilst Lena Williams article, The Little Things, falls short of solving the problem she expresses in it. She also fails to adequately portray and convince that her study of this problem, feelings between the blacks and white, are true for today’s generation.
Lena Williams published her article, in 1997 (eight years ago). Her article cultivates the scientific term, micro-aggressions i.e. the build up of ‘the little things,’ or imagined slights, over time.
Overall, her article lists, particular instances when blacks and whites felt these subtle grievances, and is framed in almost a ‘mini-study’ like manner. The first part of her article begins with a personal perspective on a time she felt micro-aggression over a racially perceived slight. Lena’s brother and her, shared sense of annoyance over the actions of a white woman raking her fingers through her golden hair. The key word being golden, a color that Lena Williams could not naturally have because she is black; Media constantly portrays blond as the preferential look. So, she perceived the woman’s actions as flaunting around her white-ness, albeight unconsciously.
Her mini-study, about inter-racial relations, is then set up into two parts, ‘The Black Side” and “"Everyday Slights: The White Take.” Lena Williams uses her reporter's nose to ferret out and document the reactions of several black and white people on micro-aggressions. Her article uses several quotes to show the overall existence of these micro-aggressions but she does offer more than a subtle outlook on the interracial divide.
On the Black side, simple everyday actions can be deemed the, "little things", as Lena’s article shows with the use of something like her description of "the look,” an expressionless stare that white people get. On the white side, "I remember once, a black friend complained about a white sales clerk in a grocery store putting his change on the counter instead of in his hand," Ms. Lewis said. When I said, 'she did that to me, too,' he said it wasn’t the same thing and stormed off."
I find fault in Lena’s fieldwork approach, because she did not question enough people in different areas and her methodic portrayl of the black and white sections shows a sort of bias that she herself feels. Lena Williams spent (3) or more pages portraying the invisible black man or black woman, the look and etc, and therefore the credibility of her article is lacking because the objectivity needed to adequately shed light on both sides of the black and white interracial divide is missing. By spending less than a page and a half, Lena is subjective in this aspect by focusing on the black side more than the white. By even applying this subtle separation within her own article she is drawing a separation between what she considers to be important and what she feels is needed to give her article the appearance of validity, just as tangible as the concept of micro-aggressions. In retrospect her article gives little credence to the white side of this interracial divide.

Or is it just unraveling the threads of the past that grip, some mainly those of the 'generational gap', on the interracial divide. I feel she completely leaves out modern people, instead focusing on certain people like Slyvia Lewis who is a part of the ‘generational gap’ "Blacks talk out loud in the movies, and that really annoys me,” Slyvia Lewis said. "What they do is talk back to the screen. They'll just provide the dialogue or react to something they've seen,’ Lena says that Ms. Lewis believes that blacks who behaved that way were 'flouting the rules of white etiquette (Sylvia Lewis)." This is the reaction of an obvious stereotypical view of a person’s mind still griping tight to the past. This is the idea of a generational gap.
Yes, Sylvia is in her 50’s, she is one who grew up in a time when such a thought was appropriate, but this is the year 2005 where such a comment as that only shows ignorance and a very narrow view. Sylvia’s quote just portrays that generational gap. Modern trends, as depicted by Chideya, show the change in the modern generation being closer with interracial marriage, dating, and similar togetherness. ‘America Culture is multiracial Culture’ offers a better perspective for the diverse culture of today’s America. Her idea of the generational gap is that is that the youth of today are bridging the gap. Today, you see more and more mixing in races and youth who are much more culturally diverse. Race to them is not an issue that much because they went to school with different races, “80% of teens have friends of another race,” they were taught political correctness—that prejudice is not right, and they are basically more accepting; whereas their parents may be a different story and or their parents, parents who have definite opinions on race--are of the past.“The reality about the heartland is that it looks more and more like New York and Los Angeles every day,” What Chideya’s saying is that the demographics of America are changing, places that use to be all white are now beginning to resemble others. There is more diversity. Overall, Chideya’s article shows that it is important to look at America’s culture as consisting “no longer one but many” ethnicities. Demographics are changing, boundaries are being broken, and the understanding of “other” races is gradually growing. America’s youth portrays this growing acceptance. The attitude of their Grandparents, the distance between what is considered norm is no longer relevant to a teenager who has never had to deal with segregation. The only segregation that occurs now is mainly by self segregation. Lena Williams is lacking the passionate view of Chideya’s article.
Lena’s article, taken as a whole, is just another excuse that is used to explain away unreasonable anger by civil and modernized people who are not looking at the bigger picture. Why would an intelligent person reason away there illogical annoyance at such an imagined slight? I'm walking out on a limb here but why not tell the lady in elevator with the golden locks that her fingering her hair brings up an age-old hatred that is really not understood anymore because blacks and whites are still caught up in the generation gap on these imagined slights So, why not forget this concept of micro-agressors for a moment and focus instead on the acceptance of cultures, bridging the gap. Forgiving this skin difference, letting go the chains bound tight around everyone in fear of such difference. Forgiving the past, and focusing on the future together. "Blacks tend to see history as currently relevant and echoing into the present,” (David K. Shipler.) On the subject of whites he says that "whites tend to see history as the past and therefore irrelevant and not governing the present at all. That is one of the major fissures between blacks and whites, and it results in lots of misunderstandings." Lena Williams does not show this notion of forgiveness in her article. In truth, neither, article sheds light on what direction blacks and whites should go to abridge the gap. But I think Chideya shows that there is a gap to abridge. The question we should be asking is how do we do that? When, black and white, thus kept an imagined slight.

10:03 a.m. - 2005-03-29

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