Preview

How It Feels to Be Colored Me- Arguement

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
334 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How It Feels to Be Colored Me- Arguement
“How it Feels To Be Colored Me” Argument

In “How it Feels To Be Colored Me”, Zora Neale Hurston presents her attitude about racism while growing up as an African American. Hurston’s views are very similar to Dr. Martin Luther King jr.’s. When talking about racism, she uses her heritage to help present her attitude. Her feelings toward the white folk aren’t hostile, but they aren’t exactly agreeing either. Hurston’s views are like those of Dr. Martin Luther King jr.’s. Both of them acknowledge that they are different than everyone else around them. They are an individual. They don’t agree that they should fit in and be the normal, African American. Both overcome hard times and discrimination and had successful parts of their careers. Hurston uses her heritage to discuss her views on racism. She grew up in a town full of blacks, so she was basically the same as her neighbor. She says she never felt colored until her family moved to Jacksonville. Then, she was constantly reminded how she was the descendant of slaves. She tells about how she was always so alone. She also discusses how she escapes the prejudiceness and gets away by going to listen to music, though; some white folks come in and make conversations with them. She speaks about her feelings towards the white folks. Hurston talks about how “among a thousand white persons, I am a dark rock”, she feels as though she is different, and she sticks out. She speaks about how she is her, she has no race. Though, she also doesn’t understand how someone could be so prejudiced against someone’s skin color. She makes a point of how they get along
Hurston presents her views in a very understandable way. She speaks about how she feels about the white folk. She uses her heritage to help her deal with racism. Her views are almost the same as Dr. King’s. I feel the same way Ms. Hurston does about

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    To grasp an understanding of the Southern States of America is something that Edward L. Ayers argues is hard to achieve: “When they speak of 'Southern culture' they are creating a fiction...as The South's defenders claim, it is not easily understood by outsiders; as its critics claim, it is apparently not understood much better by its resident defenders.”1 This might be the case, however, it is the experiences, although they might differ from one another, that contribute to an understanding of the South. When focusing on the racial aspects in Southern culture, it is an essential aspect in understanding the South as racism due to the legacy of slavery was still very much present in the early twentieth century. Therefore, Zora Neala Hurston perhaps deviant experience to other African Americans, reflected in her essay 'How it Feels to be Colored Me', illustrates the different issues that play in Southern society. Hurston's essay 'is an essay that highlights the author's experience of being African American in the South and in American in general and shows her pride in being the person that she is.…

    • 1103 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Reliance

    • 339 Words
    • 2 Pages

    As we know, much of the American culture is based upon slavery, and how African Americans as well as other individuals with a dark complexion have been persecuted and segregated throughout American history until the 1960’s. Fortunately, Zora Neale Hurston, the author of the passage “How It Feels to Be Colored Me,” explains how she lived through the civil rights period, and how she was looked at as a low member in society because of the color of her skin. In the last paragraph of the passage, Zora presents the idea that no matter what color a person is, they are all the same from the inside. I strongly disagree with Zora’s belief about different races and how they conduct themselves in today’s society; either being a productive member of society or a menace to society.…

    • 339 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Along This Way Analysis

    • 698 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Resembling Johnson, Hurston was strong and expressed her point of view, but she didn't consider herself self-important like Johnson. Hurston lived in Eatonville an all black community which was neighbored by an all white community (Maitland). From young age she was taught that she had to know her "place." Her parents believed and taught her as blacks, they were in a different class then as whites, and because of that there were certain things she could not do (such as look whites in the face). Hurston was raised to believe that there were boundaries between "whites" and "blacks" in race relation, which in life she totally disregards (and nothing happened to her). This is exemplified when Hurston asks for a pony and her father tells her she isn't "white." These beliefs instilled by Hurston parents are in contrast to that of Johnson's. Living in an integrated community, Johnson was taught that there were no boundaries between "blacks" and "whites." Later in life came to realize that this was not…

    • 698 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Colorism can be defined as the discrimination or prejudice against individuals with a darker skin tone and usually occurs within people of the same ethnicity and race. Color Struck is not only the title of one of Zora Neal Hurston’s popular works, it is a term used by African Americans who believe that lighter skin, or European features, are the essence of grace and beauty. Color Struck is a four scene play that brings the insecurities and fear surrounding being a darker skinned woman in this time period to the forefront. Hurston used the characters in her play to tastefully display that concept that darker skinned women, at this time, were considered to be a part of the bottom levels of the social ladder and were the least marriageable and…

    • 1470 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Zora Neale Hurston Dialect

    • 1463 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Zora Neale Hurston was an American novelist, short story writer, folklorist, and anthropologist and lived through the time period of 1890-1937. Her most successful and famous book, Their Eyes Were Watching God was one that was influenced by her experience in anthropology, her inclusion of feminist ideas, and the perspective she have to her African American characters. Three examples in which she showed that these ideas were infused into her writing are the use of race and racism, rural Southern black dialect, and her views on religion and God. Race and racism showed how Jodie struggled with both racial and female prejudice. The interesting use of language put not only experience with rural Southern black dialect on display but also how the…

    • 1463 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Race In Zora Neale Hurston 's, "The Conscience of the Court", it is clearly shown that Laura Lee Kimble has at least some awareness of the impact of class and gender in her life. But she does not recognize race and racism as factors that shape her environment and determine her individual identity. For Laura Lee Kimble it is people of color who live racially structured lives.…

    • 885 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    When Hurston concludes her essay, she goes on with an extended metaphor . She likens herself to a brown bag that is full of random things, and compares people everywhere to different colored bags. She explains that if everyone's different colored bags were all emptied into an enormous pile, and then restuffed that the bags wouldn’t be too different. What this metaphor does is suggest that people who come from different races are basically the same or equal. She’s saying that all humans are the same. She states that “the Great Stuffer of Bags,” made people this same way in the very beginning. It’s an assertment that instead of being proud of the race you have (not thinking you are superior or inferior to anyone else) one should be proud of themselves…

    • 157 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Zora Hurston, author of How It Feels to Be Colored Me, takes readers on a journey through her personal experience on racism and self-identity. The beginning of her life takes place in Florida in the 1920s during segregation. Hurston did not know about race until she moved to Jacksonville where there were not many African Americans.…

    • 671 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In conclusion, Richard Wright and Zora Neale Hurston developed different views due to their different upbringings. Hurston was proud of her culture and upbringing and wanted to glorify it. As to where Wright only remembered the negative aspects of his upbringing and wanted to showcase the negative aspects. This caused a problem when Hurston wrote, Their Eyes Were Watching God, because Wright believed that it was written to please the white audience rather than telling the truth behind the racism that occurred. While this may be true, there is a good reason as to why she decided not to write in the negative manner that Wright wanted her to. That reason is the fact that she did not experience racism the same way that Wright experienced it, so…

    • 326 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    time disapproved of her work. Zora Neale Hurston was in fact a controversial figure within the Harlem…

    • 1468 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    TEWWG Research Paper

    • 1196 Words
    • 4 Pages

    “Maybe it 's some place way off in de ocean where de black man is in power, but we don 't know nothin ' but what we see. So de white man thrown down de load and tell de nigger man tuh pick it up. He pick it up because he have to, but he don 't tote it. He hand it to his womenfolks. De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see. Ad been prayin ' duh it tuh be different wid you. Lawd, Lawd, Lawd!” (Hurston 14). Nanny compares negro women to…

    • 1196 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    When Janie is describing her childhood, she talks about how she was picked on in her school when she was a young child for being black. Then when she was sixteen, racism was the reason for the first major plot event. Because Janie’s Grandmother was so afraid that Janie wouldn’t be able to make it in the world as a lone black woman, she marries Janie off in an effort to protect her, saying “Honey, de white man is de ruler of everything as fur as Ah been able tuh find out. Maybe it’s some place way off in de ocean where de black man is in power, but we don’t know nothin’ but what we se. So de white man throw down de load and tell de nigger man tuh pick it up. Het pick it up because have to, but he don’t tote it. He hand it to his womenfolks. De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see. Ah ben prayin’ fuh it tuh be different wid you.” (Zora Hurston). This comparison to a mule is how many African Americans at that time felt. They were still thought of as inferior. Later in the book there is an African American character named Mrs. Turner who hates black people and worships white people; despite being black herself. She said things like “We oughta lighten up de race.” (Zora Hurston), “Ah can’t stand black niggers. Ah don’t lame de white folks from hatin’ ‘em ‘cause Ah can’t stand ‘em mahself.” (Zora Hurston), “If it wuzn’t for so many black folks it wouldn’t be no race problem. De white folks would take us in wid dem. De black ones is holdin’ us back.” (Zora Hurston), and…

    • 1825 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Viewing Ms. Hurston’s work in Their Eyes Were Watching God, Sweat, and How It Feels to Be Colored Me, through Historical, Feminist, and Marxist lenses they reflect a historical time in the US, how her…

    • 1118 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The short story “How It Feel to Be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston, has several subject, such as the effects of racial segregation, community and cultural identify. This story explains how her family’s move from Eatonville, Florida to Jacksonville, and also Florida affected her sense of self and identity.…

    • 283 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In her essay, “How It Feels to Be Colored Me”, Zora Neale Hurston writes about how she found her identity and became proud of who she is. Hurston recognizes the discrimination against African Americans, and sees it as “the price I paid for civilization, and the choice was not with me”. Hurston does not attempt to distance herself from her race; rather she openly accepts it. She only feels different from other races when the views of others are forced upon her. Using bags of miscellaneous objects as a metaphor, Hurston points out that we are all the same on the inside, despite our physical appearance. God created us all equal, and it is merely the views of society which divide us. Hurston’s capability to find her true identity and take pride…

    • 142 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays