Third Quarter Wrap Up

Prejudice and racism have shaped the country by making people more aware of what is actually going on in society. In the mid century 1960’s racism was presented very frequently, mostly taking place in the south. By establishing such acts as The Civil Rights Act, the expectations of our society has slowly evolved to what it is today. In the novel The Secret Life of Bees, it mentions racism against African Americans and the prejudice views whites held for African Americans in the south. Racism, discrimination and prejudice are very evident occurrences in this novel, especially seeing as since the setting is in the south in the 60’s. At one point in this reading, The Civil Rights Act was passed. The act outlawed major forms of discrimination against blacks and women, and prohibited racial segregation. The passing of this act has changed how our society is today. By reflecting on past references and past events, our society can come to realize that racism and prejudiced play a big role in how our country has developed. If there were no such thingks as racism and prejudice, there would be no such thing as The Civil Rights Act, and if that had not been established, not all men, regardless of color, would be treated as fair as they are today.

In some cases it is okay to break ties with the past, and start on something new. In a story we had read in class, The Color Of Water, it talks about a woman named Ruth who was born into a Polish Orthadox Jewish family, but later moves away from them because they basically disown her. Her family becomes upset with her because she married a black man Andrew McBride. Ruth had a hard seperation with her family at a young age, which is the reasoning for her avoiding the topic of her past. In cases like this, it is necessary to break ties with the past, because it can be a sensative topic to some. Another example of when it is essential to break ties with your past occurs in The Secret Life of Bees. Lily owens strives to find out information about her past, and about her mother. She becomes so caught up on finding out information that it leads her to become upset with some of her discoveries. Her father had told her that it was Lilys own fault her mother left, and that she left because of her. Lily tried to forget about what her father had told her, beecause the things he had said hurt her very much. She wasn’t too fond of her father because he was often mean to her. So in most cases, if your past upsets you or discomforts you, and serves as a sensitive subject to you, it is necessary for you to break ties with your past.

Color of Water/ The Secret Life of Bees, comparisons

Recently in English we have been reading The Color of Water by James McBride. This book closely relates to our past novel we have read, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. These two books relate because they both reflect off one main point. In both of these stories, the main characters are in search on some insight on their past, and on their self. In The Secret Life of Bees, the main character Lily tries so hard to find out information regarding her past life. One thing that Lily strives to find out about is her mother, and about her past life also. Lily Owens goes on a journey to discover secrets about her mothers past life that  hidden from her by her father. This novel can relate to The Color of Water also. The Color of Water is set up to be read from two peoples points of views. One chapter is narrated by James, and the next by his mother. The narration of each chapter has a significance, and that is to show the resemblance in life that James and his mother have. While growing up, James mother had encountered a great amount of interesting things in her life, and James is starting to realize that he too is going through the same types of interactions as his mother had in the past. Another way these two stories can relate is that they both involve examples of racism. In The Secret Life of Bees, Rosaleen the African American step in mother of Lily, is harassed and discriminated against for being a colored woman. While living in the south it is very expected to be discriminated against for the color of your skin, and for being colored in a white society. On the other hand in the story The Color of Water, James' mother Ruth, is harassed and discriminated against for being one of the only white women in her community. She is a white Jewish woman who was married to a black man, and who had given birth to colored children as well. Even though these two pieces don't related directly with the theme of racism, they still connect and many similarities are presented in the reading. 

This can relate to my own life because sometimes i wonder about my past and about how things have changed since then. This doesn't relate directly to the themes of these two stories but it somewhat can connect. I sometimes think about  my parents past, and sometimes i get the urge to search for information on the subject. One time i had been looking through my mothers yearbook and had wondered about her past and how her life was different than mine is now. I had gone into our basement and looked through a bunch of old pictures and had found many of my mother and my father when they were both around my age. By finding these pictures i had gained some insight on their past, and how their lives were much different than they would have been in present time. 

                 

                

                

"Don't judge a book by its cover."

Today you don't see as many people hiding behind their true colors, but there still are some who feel insecure about they way they look. People should not be ashamed of who they are, or what color skin they have, but some people are still effected by those things. In our history, those feelings were present with many individuals. Racism was a huge part of our history, as seen in our novel The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Rosaleen was discriminated because of the color of her skin, and it made her feel uncomfortable and insecure about who she was. I thought about many things while reading about the discrimination and racism presented in that novel, one of which being the thoughts going through Rosaleen's head through that whole time. If I were her, I would be so insecure about myself. To be discriminated upon because of the color of my skin,  I would feel so out of place. 


But then in class this week, we read a short story How It Feels to Be Colored Me, by Zora Neale Hurston. In this story, Hurston is proud of who she is, she doesn't let the color of her skin bring her down or make her feel any different than anyone else around her. She is much different than Rosaleen in a sense, that she has so fear of who she is, and she is not one bit insecure about her race. This some what surprised me. I went from reading a story about an African American woman who is so insecure in her skin, to reading a story about an African American woman who could wish nothing changed; not even the color of her skin. These thoughts I were presented with during my reading reminded me that people are insecure about plenty of things in the world. Most people that are insecure, truly are insecure because of what is on the outside. Whether it be the color of your skin, the clothes you wear, the color hair you have, or a gap in your teeth. People are insecure about plenty of things. But reading How It Feels to Be Colored Me, opened up my eyes to realizing that we shouldn't care so much about what is on the outside, but just be ourselves. We shouldn't let the way we look make us self conscious, or make us feel insecure about ourselves. Everyone is unique, and we most definitely should not judge one another on what is on the outside. We should not judge people by what is on the outside, but look past that on what is on the inside.





"Equality." Racism in America . Web. 10 Mar 2011. <http://thejosevilson.com/fotimages/hand-shake-black-and-white.jpg>.

Racism, Discrimination and Segregation.

So far in English class we have been talking about many topics dealing with racism, discrimination, segregation etc. in history. We are currently reading the book The Secret Life Of Bees and all of these topics are addressed in this novel as well. Some examples from the reading are when Rosaleen and Lily go into town so that Rosaleen can register to vote. Even though she is now allowed to register she still gets harassed by three white men she encounters on her way into town. The three white men started making rude remarks and racial slurs towards Rosaleen, putting her down and judging her just because of the color of her skin. In class we had learned about many historical events that have taken place that include racism and discrimination.  We just recently watched a video on the Little Rock Nine which were a group of nine African-American students that attended Little Rock Central High school in Arkansas in the year 1957.  The Nine students were not allowed to enter the school, which was very segregated due to racism in the community. These students were looked down upon by white students, just like Rosaleen was looked down upon by white men in her town. Finally after an intervention by President Eisenhower, the nine students at Little Rock Central High were allowed to attend school but only under the supervision, and protection of  a soldier by their side. Even after let into the school, these nine students were followed by mobs of white students, and threatened to be lynched all because of the color of the nine students skin. This historical event shows that these nine students were discriminated by their own community, and by students that attended their school. This event is one of the many important events that took place during the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Another historical event we learned about in class also involved The Civil Rights Movement. This was the 1963 Birmingham Bombing, four little girls all of African-American descent were killed when the A Baptist Church IN Birmingham Alabama that they attended for Sunday School was bombed.

The Babptist Church that was bombed was used as a meeting place for Civil Rights Movement leaders such as Martin Luther King.  The bombing took place on September 15th, 1963 and a white man was seen getting out a car and placing a box under the steps of the church. Very soon after the box was placed under the steps, a bomb went of and resulted in the death of the four young girls. Later on the man accused for the bombing of the church was found out to be a member of the Klu Klux Klan, and was charged with murder and for possession of explosives. The bombing was found to be a "response" to the speech Rev martin Luther King Jr. gave at the March on Washington, which angered the Klan members. This event in history shows us that people will go to extreme limits to hurt people and discriminate others, for no reason at all. These people make remarks against people of opposite skin color, and intentionally harm them because of this. These events also along with many others, show that racism was a big issue in the past, and it was the cause of many horrific events.I think it is important that we are learning this material in school, it teaches us a lesson and informs us on how our world has evolved from past historical events. It has showed that people have realized their wrong doings, and have fixed their problems. 

"Ban Racism In America." Web. 16 Feb 2011. <http://blog.mkf.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/ban-racism.jpg>.

"Baptist Church Bombing." Web. 16 Feb 2011. <http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2011/01/17/420x316-alg_16th_st_baptist_church.jpg>.

Secret Life Of Bees

In English class last week we read a short story about a letter Martin Luther King Jr. wrote while he was in Birmingham Jail. The story talked about racism and segregation. Martin Luther King Jr. mentioned things about the city Birmingham its self, and mentioned how it was the most segregated city in the United States. Dr Martin Luther King Jr. states in the letter that he is trying to change the way society sees people as a whole, and is trying to make it a better place for everyone. He talks about trying to create everyone to become equals, and about the Civil Rights Movement. This letter and story can relate the the novel we started reading in class, The Secret Life Of Bees. This book takes place in the south, and racism is presented quite frequently in the novel. In the story it mentions the Civil Rights Movement, which was a worldwide political movement for equality. Even though in the town Lilly, her father, and Rosaleen live in, the Civil Rights Movement was already passed but Rosaleen is not treated as an equal. There is one example that shows this perfectly. On Lilly's birthday, Rosaleen and her take a trip into town. While there, Rosaleen is harassed by 3 white men, and all because of the color of her skin.  Rosaleen was harassed by these white men and they look down on her and don't treat her as an equal even though they are expected to. Both these story's are very relevant to our current understandings of society, and we are reading them at the perfect time seeing as since Black History month has just begun. During Black History month, many of these topics and concerns are reflected upon. I am glad that reflecting on History, we have all come to realize that everyone in our society should be treated as equals. It is important to realize that the way people are looked upon has  changed drastically, and for the better. 


"The Secret Life Of Bees." Web. 16 Feb 2011. <http://img.listal.com/image/1357796/600full-the-secret-life-of-bees-screenshot.jpg>.

Truth Versus Fiction

Truth can in most often cases also be fiction. There is believable truth that could be found out to never really happened. Like presented in the video we watched in class about O'Briens work, he mentioned that his work was based on true events but not all of what he stated was truth. He used true experiences and true stories, and added fictional details. This is an example of a true fiction story. Sometimes in real life people tell stories that are true, but aren't entirely true. They add details or take out details that cause their stories to not be entirely true. In the novel we read in class "The Things They Carried", the stories that were told were true, but not all of the stories were true. For example, O'Brien stated in his work that he had a daughter named Katherine. When we viewed his interview in class he admitted that in real life he doesn't have a daughter named Katherine. O'Brien also admitted that there were other details in his book that were based off the truth but were bent, or twisted. This is one way that people tell stories even today in real life, they are not always entirely true, but in fact based off the truth.

Favorite Reading Experience

When I was younger I would love to read. I would go to library with my dad and pick out tons of books and bring them home with me to read during the summer.
I would read my books while my dad read his. I started off with reading simple picture books like "Hungry Caterpillar" and "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" by Eric Carle. Gradually I moved up to reading harder books like "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" by Eileen Chistelow, and "Goodnight Moon" written by Margaret Wise Brown.  I remember when I was younger, every night before I went to bed my mother and I would read a book or two together. Sometimes I would read and sometimes she would. I loved golden books the most, there were so many different stories that they had. My favorite was the one about the rabbit peter cottontail; I would read it over and over again. My all time favorite book was "One Hungry Monster" by Susan Heyboer O’Keefe, every night before bed I would ask my mom to read this book to me but she would insist we read a different book once in a while. I loved reading, it made me think about how interesting the lives of the people in the books were and made me want to experience those same things.