In Baldwin's Many Thousands Gone, issues concerning the depiction of the African American persona are referenced prominently through the figureheads of Aunt Jemima and Uncle Tom. Through their stories we come to understand how the history of the Negro in America has digressed largely from the simplistic stereotype of ignorant, illiterate, and "underprivileged" individuals, to a sense of a larger community and culture of well-educated and able bodies. Baldwin alludes that these people under the subject of this scrutiny still retain the same physical characteristics of their forebears, being "almost as dark" as the generations that came before them, yet they are nevertheless "ferociously literate, well-dressed and scrubbed, [are] never laughed at, and are not likely to have set foot in a cotton or tobacco field or in any but the most modern of kitchens."(27) That these people are possibly seen by others as some sort of perverse caricature is of menial importance to their development as sentient and caring human beings, and their deep sense of personal identity is reflected in the fact that they care so little of being labeled exclusively by the basis of their race. What the individuals truly yearn for is to earn a "proper place in the sun and the right to be left alone, like any other citizen of the republic."
This sense of resolve and passivity expressed by the current attitudes of this African American dynamic is in direct opposition to the presumed position taken by the black community only a brief period of time ago. Whereas now the
Jonathan,
ReplyDeleteI'm curious about your closing thoughts but you make several pointed and well-worded claims here.
You reference the Jemima/Tom stereotypes and trademarks and then mention the differences between these dated figures and African Americans today, both in terms of social class and education. Indeed, the fact that black social success has been perceived by some persons (both in the 1950s and still somewhat today) as a "perverse caricature" - a refusal to identify with the familiar and threatening "Aunt" and "Uncle" types and to pursue success by living in accordance with dominant lifestyles and practices - does not impact their success, but it does change racial attitudes among both whites and blacks.
I am curious about the nature of the "current" "resolve and passivity" with regard to how these attitudes have changed. Do you mean that African Americans today are resolved to go about their lives and seek success while remaining aware that some form of racialized labeling (that is not necessarily negative) is going on in the background?
When you compare this to a prior position, I assume that you mean during the Civil Rights movement - when resolve did not coincide with passivity but with various forms of resistance (ranging from active to more passive or non-combative, but still active - e.g. sit-ins). In other words, do you argue that now black success involves passivity whereas it required assertion before?
Thanks for contributing these thought-provoking ideas.