This essay intrigued me. I thought the comments it made on education and "black literature" were insightful and well-written. Sadly, it reinforced my ignorant whiteness, as many of these issues were ones I had not considered before.
There were a couple of quotes that I thought were excellent, and I wondered what you all thought about them. The first, on page 36, pokes fun at the futility of many academic battles. It reads, "We pay homage to the marginalized and demonized, and it feels almost as if we've righted an actual injustice. (Academic battles are so fierce--the received wisdom has it--because so little is truly at stake). I always think of the folk tale about the fellow who killed seven with one blow: flies, not giants" (36).
What do you think about this? Are we wasting so much time arguing and "solving" issues in debate that we've forgotten about the issues themselves?
I'm afraid we might have.
I had more quotes I enjoyed, but I think I'll stick with this for now.
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3 comments:
I really enjoyed this phrase from the essay: "The teaching of literature is the teaching of values..." Furthermore, I would have to agree with the author that "white texts have influenced and informed black texts, (and vice versa).
Hmm...
The quote on page 36 also held me in thought. Quite honestly, I'm trying to understand the issue here. Maybe I am struggling mostly because I am seriously white. I guess I haven't ever realized the truth that many of the anthologies we read contain white authors. Maybe I'm missing the point entirely, but should it be an issue that Norton publishes an Afro-American anthology? Should we be integrating more? Would integration of texts from diverse writers promise the celebration of that diversity? Who knows. Maybe this is a copout, but I fail to see the intensity of the debate...
Well, I am so naive that I was unaware of literature as "canons." As I stated, I knew about canons in the Bible.
Anyway, I doubt I would know a "black" writer from a "white, red, yellow, etc.," unless they pointed it out to me. Honestly, I hate races referred to as "colors." I am no more white than they are black, red, or yellow. The only time I appreciate the colors is in the song, "we are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world."
The older you become, you will realize how insignifcant color is and how what really matters is the soul or in this case the literature.
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