Concerning Outliers Gladwell Summary
While going through the PBS website called Power of Illusion, we found many things that were new to us and that surprised us. The things that were new to us was the idea of race is actually a modern idea. Ancient societies did not divide people according to physical differences. Another idea that was new to us, was the adding of race to our census was not added until 1790, additionally the race of “Mexican” was not added until 1930. What surprised us the most was that us as humans actually have not been around long enough to put ourselves in subcategories based on our race or ethnicity. In 400B.C. the differences amongst people was defined off of someone’s wealth, social class and their language. The last thing that surprised us was that
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He first speaks on the behalf of his grandmother, who was bought on the slave trade in Jamaica. She regarded her lighter color of skin as an advantage, because the slave owner treated her better because of it. Gladwell believes that his family never escaped this perception, as he tells the story of his mother’s close relative- whom he refers to as Aunt Joan. Joan had married a man with darker skin than hers, and because of this their child was born with darker skin than hers. She felt that she was light enough that she attracted more attention from lighter skinned men, and without realizing her intentions she realized one day that she had pretended her daughter wasn’t hers- because she felt that if men knew she had given birth to a daughter with dark skin that they would perceive her as less desirable. Gladwell goes on to write about his mother, and her feelings about her skin color. She is Jamaican, and her husband was not. One day they found a house to move into, and they were very excited. But once the landlady noticed that Gladwell’s mother was Jamaican, they were turned away. She never got over the embarrassment, and she found herself resenting her skin color because it put her at such a disadvantage. In her own words, “We [landlady and her] were both guilty of the sin of self-regard, the pride and the exclusiveness by which we cut
He first speaks on the behalf of his grandmother, who was bought on the slave trade in Jamaica. She regarded her lighter color of skin as an advantage, because the slave owner treated her better because of it. Gladwell believes that his family never escaped this perception, as he tells the story of his mother’s close relative- whom he refers to as Aunt Joan. Joan had married a man with darker skin than hers, and because of this their child was born with darker skin than hers. She felt that she was light enough that she attracted more attention from lighter skinned men, and without realizing her intentions she realized one day that she had pretended her daughter wasn’t hers- because she felt that if men knew she had given birth to a daughter with dark skin that they would perceive her as less desirable. Gladwell goes on to write about his mother, and her feelings about her skin color. She is Jamaican, and her husband was not. One day they found a house to move into, and they were very excited. But once the landlady noticed that Gladwell’s mother was Jamaican, they were turned away. She never got over the embarrassment, and she found herself resenting her skin color because it put her at such a disadvantage. In her own words, “We [landlady and her] were both guilty of the sin of self-regard, the pride and the exclusiveness by which we cut