Do We Have Any Understanding of the World Besides America?

Orientalism is a self centered mindset that does not allow Westerners to open up their minds to the Middle Eastern region. We believe that living in the Western world gives us authority over the Orient, and contributes to our thinking that Western nations are superior. We need to move past this way of thinking or we will not be able to expand our minds to other viewpoints in the world.

A modern day example that sticks out to me is when 9/11 took place. America rightfully went into a state of panic, but since that day our view of people from the Middle East is that they are all terrorists who are trying to harm America. We generalized one small terrorist group as the entire Middle East, and deemed those people as dangerous and threats to our society. I would say that many Americans have some form of prejudice against people from the Middle East, and when they see someone walking down the street (fully covered up in their clothing)-specify a sense of fear rises in them.

These stereotypes of the people and culture within the Middle East can become very toxic especially when they are portrayed on television shows and movies. Whenever you see a television show that has the Middle East in it, they are always portrayed as the terrorist threat. This constant visual reminder overshadows every wonderful part about their culture and religion that Americans seem to forget about. Everything about their culture seems foreign to us, and we focus on their differences instead of remembering that all of us are human.

I can not imagine being someone from the Middle East living in America, and the stereotypes they have to face everyday. The Western world needs to focus on including everybody, and getting rid of perception that we are the dominating region over the orient.

Historical Accuracy of Beloved

Beloved by Toni Morrison discusses the history and experiences of slaves in America, and how these experiences haunt those who have escaped from or been freed from slavery. Morrison mentions specific years and ages of her characters in the novel and alludes to connections between the events in the book and historical events in the American South. However, when matching up these dates to the history of slavery in America, they don't fit together quite right.

The book is set in 1873, 8 years after the Civil War. In 1855, Sethe gives birth to Denver. According to Denver's telling of the story, Sethe is 19 when she gives birth to Denver, meaning she would have been born in 1836.

Stick with me, this is where it gets tricky. According to Nan, both she and Sethe's mother were "taken up by" crewmen on the boat they took to an unspecified island. Sethe's mother gets pregnant by someone on the boat's crew and gets rid of the child on the island. This means that at least a year was spent traveling to and staying on the island. If we set the minimum age for surviving a pregnancy at 13, this means that Sethe's mother was at least 14 by the time she reached the states, if not older.

International slave trade was outlawed in America (though people could still trade slaves within America) in 1808, and a very small number of slaves were illegally smuggled into the country after 1808 due to high penalties for not only smuggling but buying smuggled slaves. Assuming Sethe's mother entered the country right at the end of America's international slave trade, she would have been 14 in 1808 making her born in 1797. And if Sethe's mother was born in 1794, that would make her at least 42 if not older at the time of Sethe's birth.

While having a baby at 42 might not seem unreasonable by today's standards, it would have been pretty much impossible for an enslaved woman. For starters, nowadays it is difficult for women at that age to conceive children and deliver them healthily through a traditional birth. On top of that, enslaved women were often forced to work through their pregnancies at the same rate as healthy men, were not provided with extra food, and had no access to prenatal care. Finally, slaves had an average life expectancy of 21-22 in the antebellum South, nowhere near the minimum age of 42 that Sethe's mother would be at the time of Sethe's birth.

In order for the story to match the timeline of American history, Sethe's mother would have to be 42 years old if not older at the time of her daughter's birth, and getting up and continuing to work on the plantation 2-3 weeks later. So what explanantion is there for this impossible feat? Am I missing another piece of evidence in the story that explains this timeline error? And if it truly is an oversight on behalf of the author, why did she include specific ages and years in the story if they don't work? What purpose does that serve? And am I digging too deep into this plot hole?

(Sidenote: I understand that the historical accuracy of the timeline does not have an impact on the message and information conveyed in the book, it just bothers me.)

This is America-Citizen

When we first began reading Citizen, the first connection that came to my mind while reading Citizen was the music video and song “This is America”, by Donald "Childish Gambino" Glover. They are told in very different ways, one in rap and one in literature, but both have the same point. They both expose the main issues of race in America that are always talked about as these main issues and are so obvious to people who are actually recognizing what is going on, but nothing ever happens to change these things. Gambino's song is a fantastic song and his words have a very deep meaning, but the music video is what really conveys what he is trying to get to people. Gambino uses very graphic images and scenes in his video that make you as a listener and watcher, be like "damn", but the reality is that is what the reality in America is when it comes to civil rights. It is always talked about how racism in this country is one of its worst flaws, which is a fact, but things like black violence in poor communities to each other, police brutality and other terrible things continue to carry on, and America just keeps on singing. This relates directly to Citizen because it is another example of someone speaking out and actually getting down and sharing the facts of what goes on in this country.

Who is to blame for racism in the United States

I am not here to point a finger at any particular person our group, and trust me there are many people to blame for racist beliefs that have ran through America since it was formed. In my eyes racism is never going to end until we stop pointing fingers, and come together as a whole.

A song and video that has stuck with me since it came out last year was ¨I´m not Racist¨ by Joyner Lucas. If you have heard the song, I hope you were as moved by it as I was, and if you haven´t heard it then you really should give it a listen (and watch). Half of the 7 minute song is a racist white man wearing a MAGA hat spitting racial slurs left and right at a young black man who just sits there and listens. Then the white man stops and give the black man a chance to say his side of the story. After about 3 minutes of the black man saying his perspective on racism and culture and America, the two come together and hug it out vouching to understand each others side and work together to end racism.

I think the message of the song is the answer to stop racism in America. People on both sides need to stop blaming the other, and everyone needs to come together as a group. If each side feels attacked by the other then there will never be progress.