How it feels to be colored me thesis

CHILDREN AND RACIAL DISCRIMINATION 1

Meade 2

Cover Letter

Dear Prof. Sands,

I chose to do my comparative analysis on “Indiana Education” by Sherman Alexie and “How it Feels to Be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston. For my main topic I chose to compare the authors different childhood environments to show how it can affect how they see the world and influence their self-identity. After comparing these two stories I noticed a difference in the authors childhood environments, and I was curious if this was the reason they saw racial discrimination differently. One seems angry and feels a victim of racial discrimination, while the other seems unconcerned and unbothered by it.

Peer response: I had two peer responses, and an email response from you. The first response pointed out some grammar mistakes, comma splices, and that I needed to re-word some paragraphs, but she also pointed out my conclusion needed more points about my main topic, so I worked on this. She also wanted me to add more outside source supporting facts, so I added more info to the main body of my paper. The second response stated that he didn’t see my thesis statement. Maybe he missed it because it was the first sentence of my paper and it was a question. He wanted me to explain my thoughts better, so I added more of my own words. He also wanted to see more supporting info, so I added more detail about the two environments. I added better quotes that fit my thesis too. Your response was about my thesis statement. You suggested that I change it from a question to a statement, so I did. I do think it sounds better now.

Introduction: I didn’t like how my thesis statement sounded, so I tried different sentence forms until it made more sense about my main topic. I wasn’t sure if I should use a question as my thesis statement, so I changed it after your email that I should not. I also added a title that explained my main point. I added more detailed information to my introduction paragraph to give the reader more information why I chose the authors childhood environment as the main focus of my paper.

Main Idea: Again, I chose to compare the different environments each author grew up in. I found it interesting that they both grew up in communities that consisted of only their own race, and I wanted to know why they felt differently about discrimination. I feel my point comes through clearly and is reinforce by the research I did. I feel my topic is relevant to what the authors were describing n their stories. I also added transitional words to the beginning of all paragraphs.

Focus: I think I stayed focused on my topic through out my paper.

Development: I Think I have developed my ideas sufficiently. I added more supporting facts to my introduction, main body, and conclusion. I researched and found more information about Eatonville, Florida, and about the Spokane Indian reservation.

Organization: I used different paragraphs to compare each author’s story. I thought this would be easier for the reader to follow.

Sincerely,

Laurie Knight

Meghan Meade

Prof. Trent Sands

ENGL 111-00H Online

22 June 2015

Children and Racial Discrimination

I chose to write my comparison analysis on “Indian Education” by Sherman Alexie and “How it Feels to Be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston. These two stories describe how the authors grew up in different environments and how they dealt with racial discrimination differently as an adult. I feel that children learn racial discrimination from their environment and this environment can also influence their self-identity. I found it interesting that each author grew up in similar environments consisting only of their own race: Alexie on an Indian reservation and Zora in an all black town or race colony.

Alexie’s environment was an Indian reservation, which was formed by the US Government to control the American Indians and to Americanize them. The environment on a reservation was a place of gloom and depression. Some Indians also call it a prisoner of war camp. The Indians lost their dignity and self-respect after years of oppression from the American Government. Teachers were encouraged not to teach Indian culture to children. The unemployment rate on the Spokane Indian reservation was as high as 75% in 1983 (“Spokane”). The deep recession during Alexie’s childhood was difficult for the Spokane Indians. Steve Miller for NBC News states, “The economy is burying the Spokane Indian Tribe. Plows and shovels will take care of the snow, but the tribe is looking for new tools to help dig itself out from under its recession” (“Spokane”).

On the other hand, Hurston’s environment in Eatonville, Florida, was very unique. Eatonville, also called the “Town that Freedom Built” was the first incorporated black town in America. Eatonville’s environment consisted of very proud and protective residents. Its community was centered on education and religion. Although the people in this environment were poor, it was also made of proud black people that encouraged its cultural identities among its children. Their children were not exposed to outside influences of prejudice and racial discrimination. The town of Eatonville still exists today, and it is the oldest of the remaining black towns (“Eatonville, Florida”).

In “Indian Education” the author uses anecdotes and humor to describe his life growing up on an Indian reservation. He also the discrimination toward him by his own people. He seemed ashamed to be an Indian, and he seemed to feel he was different not equal to his tribal members. His environment made him want to change his identity. Alexie learned racial discrimination while attending school on the reservation. He learned that society didn’t approve of his Indian culture; they criticized it and put it down. His white teachers constantly reminded him that the Indian culture was wrong. An example of this cultural discrimination is when his second grade teacher sent a letter home to his parents that said to cut Alexie’s braids or keep him home from class. Alexie states, “My parents came in the next day and dragged their braids across Betty Towle’s desk.” Alexie was tired of being stereotyped, and states that, “Sharing dark skin doesn’t necessarily make two men brothers.” He leaves the reservation to give himself a better chance in life because he doesn’t want to end up like his parents, living in poverty and depression.

Whereas In “How it Feels to Be Colored Me” Hurston also used anecdotes to describe her life, she uses metaphors to describe how she was feeling when she was experiencing discrimination. She felt that she was the same or equal to white people; since she grew up sheltered from discrimination, she was not ashamed to be colored. Hurston states, “Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company! It’s beyond me.” Hurston’s childhood was very different than Alexie’s growing up. She grew up in a sheltered town that was founded by African Americans trying to escape racial prejudice. Hurston was sheltered from the experiences of discrimination that shaped the lives of many African Americans (“Harlem Renaissance” 900). She never developed the beliefs that colored people were defeated, humiliated or victimized. She was unconcerned with white people and unaware of problems with being colored. Her father was a preacher and her mother was a schoolteacher. Zora’s mother encouraged her to be independent and creative (Walker). All that changed when she was 13 when her mother died. She was sent to a live in a boarding school in Jacksonville, Florida where she was then exposed to a world she wasn’t use to, a world of discrimination.

Alexie’s childhood growing up was difficult. He was born with a condition called Hydrocephalus (water on the brain). He had to have surgery when he was 6 weeks old. He was not expected to live, but he did. He developed advanced reading skills, and at age 5 he was reading novels (Flanagan). Here is this bright child hidden in this awful environment of poverty and depression. His people have been forced by oppression to give up their cultures and religion. You can see why they have lost their identity. Because of this environment, he experienced things at a young age that no child should ever know about. He learned about racial discrimination, depression, alcoholism, and drugs, all before the age of 10. He definitely saw the world differently than Zora did. Zora’s life was sheltered; she never knew that being a different color was an issue. That could be why Zora never paid too much attention to racial discrimination. She was proud of who she was; she had formed her identity. Where Alexie didn’t like where he came from, he wanted to be someone else, he was still searching for his identity.

However, when Zora left her small town to live in the big city, she started seeing and feeling discrimination for the first time. She didn’t let it bother her; she didn’t feel sorry for her self or feel victimized like other colored people. When people reminded her that she’s the granddaughter of slaves. she states, “The operation was successful and the patient is doing well, thank you” (Hurston). Which means, yes slavery happened, we survived, and everything is going to be fine now. To her, it’s a waste of time to sit around and cry about it. The past is the past; it’s now time to look forward.

I think Alexie felt the same way as Zora. He saw all his tribal brothers and parents blaming the past for all their problems, so they could have an excuse to be poor and be alcoholics. Instead of doing something about it, most of them would sit around and feel sorry for themselves. I think Alexie, like Zora, decided to ignore the discrimination and try and fight for a better life. When Alexie said, “Believe me, everything looks like a noose if you stare at it long enough,” I think he meant that if you dwell on bad thoughts long enough, you are bound to believe them and succumb to them. Like Zora, Alexie was always reminded of his ancestors’ past. He played on the school basketball team, which was nicknamed the “Indians.” When they would lose, the school paper would write: “Indians Lose Again” (Alexie, Par. 11), which would remind him again that he was Indian, and how his ancestors lost everything to the white man.

In the same way, Hurston is also reminded of her heritage when she hears music. She is reminded of her African roots when she hears jazz music and envisions herself back in Africa dancing with her ancestors. Hurston states, “ I dance wildly inside myself; I yell within, I whoop; I shake my assegai above my head.” This is when she feels most colored and not equal to her white friends. Hurston also feels this way in a room of all white people, but only then, she doesn’t let it bother her most of the time. She ignores these feelings of inequality, and goes on, believing, she’s just another citizen living in America.

The following two statements from Department of Pediatrics and Child Health and NASP may explain how Alexie’s environment caused him to feel discrimination towards his own race and his loss of identity: “A child can develop and learn attitudes towards people of race from in their society that can result in negative perception of their own group. Exposure to racial discrimination at a young age can increase self-consciousness, and decrease self-esteem” (Sanders-Phillips, et al. 64). According to the National Association of School Psychologists, “Students and families who endure racism experience negative mental health, academic, and social outcomes. Ethnic discrimination from adults and peers in educational settings is associated with increased negative perceptions of one’s ethnic group” (qtd. in “Position Statement”).

In conclusion, I’ve learned that children are born innocent without feelings of prejudice and discrimination; it’s something that they learn from their environment. “Prejudice is learned through living in and observing a society where prejudices exist” (“What”). Children that live in uncaring environments with no support from their family and peers do poorly in school, have a low self-esteem, and have a loss of identity. “There is increased probability for negative outcomes when children feel that their teachers did not respect or care about them as individuals” (qtd. in Wong, et al. 6). With this said, we can see that a child’s environment does play a role in how they develop as an adult. We can see that the presence of a doomed and oppressed environment on the Indian reservation affected Alexie, which caused his lack of identity, and made him not like his own race. Whereas Zora, who was not exposed to racial discrimination while growing up in a loving and proud black environment, had no bad feelings about being black; and was proud of her identity.

Works Cited

Alexie, Sherman. “Indian Education.” Como Park Senior High School. Spps.org. N.d. Web. 18 Jan. 2015.
“Eatonville, Florida.” Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia.org. N.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2015.

Flanagan, Mark. “Sherman Alexie.” Contemporary Literature. About.com. N.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2015.

“The Harlem Renaissance.” Englishousness. n.d. PDF File. 12 Feb. 2015.

Hurston, Zora Neale, "How it Feels to Be Colored Me," About.com. N.d. Web. 12 Feb 2015.

“Position Statement: Racism, Prejudice, and Discrimination.” National Association of School Psychologists. 2012. PDF file. 12 Feb. 2015.

Sanders-Phillips, Kathy, Beverlyn Settles-Reaves, Doren Walker, and Janeese Brownlow. “Social Inequality and Racial Discrimination: Risk Factors for Health Disparities in Children of Color.” Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, DC. 2009. PDF file. 12 Feb. 2015.

"Spokane Indians Face Hard Economic Times." Steve Miller, correspondent. NBC Today Show. NBCUniversal Media. 14 Jan. 1983. NBC Learn. Web. 19 January 2015.

Walker, Alice, ed. I Love Myself When I Am Laughing... And Then Again When I Am Looking Mean and Impressive. NY: CUNY Press. 1979. PDF file. 12 Feb. 2015.

“What to Tell Your Child About Prejudice and Discrimination.” Anti-Defamation League. Adl.org. N.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2015.

Wong, Carol, Jacquelynne Eccles, and Arnold Sameroff. “The Infulence of Ethnic Discrimination and Ethnic Identification: on African-American Adolescents’ School and Socio-Emotional Adjustment.” IRWG/University of Michigan. N.d. PDF file. 12 Feb. 2015.