Beloved
Avena Patel
Mr. Green
AP English
Resisting Racism
During the Civil War and the years following the Civil War, many people say that African Americans were looked down upon, segregated from White people, and altogether, treated unfairly. In 1865, two years after Lincoln freed all slaves through the Emancipation Proclamation, the Ku Klux Klan formed in efforts to terrorize the freed slaves. The following year, Black Codes were used in the South to limit the rights that the freed slaves had recently earned. Almost 100 years later, Rosa Parks was asked to give up her seat on a bus for a White man to sit down. Despite all of these racist incidents, however, there were Black people who resisted the racial subordination. In 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first Black man to play for a Major League Baseball team. Less than ten years later, a court case ruled that schools were not allowed to be segregated by race. Only four years ago, a Black man was voted to be President of our nation. History shows that even though racism is a problem that our country has faced since its very beginnings and even today, not all people of minority races are negatively affected by racism. The five elements of the Critical Race Theory—Critique of Liberalism, Counter-Storytelling, Permanence of Racism, Whiteness as Property, and Interest Convergence—work together to analyze how far the United States is from reaching its goal of true racial equality. When applying the Critical Race Theory to Toni Morrison’s novel, Beloved, Toni Morrison ambiguously shows that not all Blacks are oppressed by racism through her characters, Sethe, Beloved, and Baby Suggs. The first element of the Critical Race Theory, Critique of Liberalism, says that there are people who think they have made a lasting impact to stop racism, but in reality, they have not. Towards the end of Beloved, before Ella and the other women are able to exorcise Beloved, Sethe thinks she sees the schoolteacher when in reality, it is
Mr. Green
AP English
Resisting Racism
During the Civil War and the years following the Civil War, many people say that African Americans were looked down upon, segregated from White people, and altogether, treated unfairly. In 1865, two years after Lincoln freed all slaves through the Emancipation Proclamation, the Ku Klux Klan formed in efforts to terrorize the freed slaves. The following year, Black Codes were used in the South to limit the rights that the freed slaves had recently earned. Almost 100 years later, Rosa Parks was asked to give up her seat on a bus for a White man to sit down. Despite all of these racist incidents, however, there were Black people who resisted the racial subordination. In 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first Black man to play for a Major League Baseball team. Less than ten years later, a court case ruled that schools were not allowed to be segregated by race. Only four years ago, a Black man was voted to be President of our nation. History shows that even though racism is a problem that our country has faced since its very beginnings and even today, not all people of minority races are negatively affected by racism. The five elements of the Critical Race Theory—Critique of Liberalism, Counter-Storytelling, Permanence of Racism, Whiteness as Property, and Interest Convergence—work together to analyze how far the United States is from reaching its goal of true racial equality. When applying the Critical Race Theory to Toni Morrison’s novel, Beloved, Toni Morrison ambiguously shows that not all Blacks are oppressed by racism through her characters, Sethe, Beloved, and Baby Suggs. The first element of the Critical Race Theory, Critique of Liberalism, says that there are people who think they have made a lasting impact to stop racism, but in reality, they have not. Towards the end of Beloved, before Ella and the other women are able to exorcise Beloved, Sethe thinks she sees the schoolteacher when in reality, it is
Cited: Infoplease. Infoplease. Web. 11 Mar. 2012. <http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmtimeline.html>. Morrison, Toni. Beloved: A Novel. New York: Knopf, 1987. Print.