Due Feb. 26th by 11:59pm. 200-400 words.
Everett’s never been one to shy away from issues of race in
America. About 20 years ago, Everett was
supposed to speak at the South Carolina state house, but refused due to the
presence of the Confederate Flag. He’s
also written satirical books such as “A History of the African American People
(Proposed) by Strom Thurmond” and “Erasure” which lampoons what he terms “ghetto
pop fiction” such as Push by
Sapphire. In this novel, as well, issues
of race are at the front and center, especially in Chapters 2 and 4 (where he’s
imprisoned and forced to work in a labor camp for “driving while black,” has a
19th century slave narrative dream toward the end of ch. 2, and then
experiences the more subtle racism of his girlfriend’s parents—who find his
skin too dark, but change their reaction when they find out he’s rich). Analyze these scenes and what Everett might
be saying about race in America through them.
Throughout the first four chapters, Everett is shedding light on the closed-mindedness and senselessness behind human interaction, especially when it comes to hate. Not Sidney, although being an adult, is cursed by is naivety in the second chapter. When not Sidney was in school, he was tormented by other children for his name, but as he grows up, but still thinks as a child, and sets off on his little adventure to find his mother’s gravestone, he finds that his skin color is another feature that people can hold against him. Throughout the scenes that feature Not’s skin color as a centerpiece, Everett is presenting the stupidity behind the judgments through Not’s perspective. Before being arrested for driving while being black, Not Sidney did not really understand discrimination because of anything except his name. As he visits with Maggie’s family and learns that they do not like him because he is darker than they, Not Sidney realizes what Everett’s is saying about race. When the family realizes he is rich, they want him around regardless of his skin color, and when Not Sidney tells Patrice he can set him up in Atlanta, Patrice follows him. The slave owner did not care about race in Not’s dream when he planned to rape the newly bought woman. The point emphasized by Everett is that we should view race through Not’s eyes; the way he sees things. Skin color is not a factor that has to be redeemed by other qualities (wealth in Not’s case). Through Not’s naivety, Everett is presenting the fact race is a social issue that people think about, but he is also suggesting that we should, perhaps, view race the way Not does.
ReplyDeleteJames Raff
When Everett gets arrested for "driving while black," I believe he's trying to shed light on racism and racial profiling. Many people still complain today of being harassed by the police because of the color of their skin. When he escapes and has the dream of being a slave he is addressing issues within the black community, that issue being differences in skin color. There has always been problems dealing with skin color because some people, mostly women, dislike themselves because they believe they're too dark. Also within the black community, some people are held at a higher standard because of the fact that they are lighter, which is another issue that still exists today. There are women that want to have kids with light-skinned men so their kids won't be dark and also women that try bleaching creams to make themselves lighter. This issue is also portrayed when Not Sidney goes to meet his girlfriend's parents. The first thing that her mother says to her father is that he's dark. Until, of course, they find out that he's rich. Then all of that goes out the window. I believe this is Everett's way of calling attention to issues within the black community today.
ReplyDeleteTanisha Winfrey
I think you handled the "Thanksgiving" scenes well, but he's doing more than simply pointing out racial profiling can exist in Ch. 2. Note the differences between Atlanta and the rest of Georgia, and the buffoons all the people in "Peckerwood" county are made to be (not to mention the name of their county). It seems the dream ties into the DWB a lot more (as if Everett's making it obvious that such an area is stuck in a 19th century mindset--or worse!).
DeleteMuch of the novel “I am not Sidney Poitier” is extremely comical and absurd. However, the scenes of blatant racism against the protagonist Not Sidney bring a darker tone to the story. Throughout chapters 1-4, Not Sidney is arrested, beaten, imprisoned, and discriminated against for simply being black. In chapter two Not Sidney is pulled over in the county of Peckerwood and is arrested for being black, which is apparently illegal. He is treated beyond poorly, and while the chapter maintains a sense of hilarity, the racism against Not Sidney is brutal and sad. Peckerwood County and its racist officers are shown to be Everett’s representation of rural America, as well as a perhaps exaggerated representation of the racial tension present in our country. The officer’s complete lack of education and the emphasis on their accents and language are played up so as to contrast with the propriety and intelligence that Not Sidney exhibits. Although Not Sidney is much smarter and wealthier than these men, it is because of the racial distinction in Peckerwood County that he is a class below them with no rights, and that the uneducated white men are the one’s in power. Through this Everett shows how race is misrepresented and overemphasized in America; it is not Not Sidney’s qualities and achievements that define him as a man, but the color of his skin. In another small instance that I noticed to have larger meaning is when the small and nerdy Omega pledge Eugene asks about Not Sidney’s life with Ted Turner and if he can see where he lives. When Not denies him, Eugene asserts that Not must just be a ‘white man’s boy toy’ and was clearly all along ‘not black enough to be an Omega’. In this instance Everett brings up another important issue of race in America. By being an African-American or any other minority in the United States, there seems to always be an issue of either fitting into or out of your race, and what the consequences are if you do so.
ReplyDeleteClaire Schoonover
Excellent.
DeleteOlivia Broderick
ReplyDeleteReading this novel, I am constantly reminded of 'Invisible Man' by Ralph Ellison, which I read in a high school English class, Southern Writers. They both share the theme of an educated black man from the South who is trying to break from the chains of his heritage and be seen for more than his race, while not becoming white. Everett, in making Not Sidney a well spoken black man, who wants more from life but cannot even leave Atlanta without being persecuted for his race, is speaking of the ignorance toward race that many Americans hold and how hard it is to make it as a black man. The episode with Patrice, Sis and Bobo shows just how backwards Everett believes white people can be. These people are the most vile, inbred, ignorant and repugnant people anyone could envision, yet they look down upon Not Sidney because he is not white. They are unable to see just how dumb they are, as are all of the white characters Not Sidney encounters after leaving Atlanta. I was especially struck by the scene where Patrice and Not Sidney meet the young boy and he assumes that Patrice is escorting Not Sidney to prison. The idea that a white man would be going to jail is so inconceivable that the boy doesn't even consider it a possibility when he sees the two men chained together. This, coupled with Not Sidney's dream of life as a 'boss slave' in 1851, speak a lot about what Everett thinks about the plight of African Americans in casting off the oppressive yoke of the white man.
Very good, especially the tie in to "Invisible Man." In another of Everett's books (Erasure), his protagonist/narrator is named Thelonius Ellison (referencing both the musician Thelonius Monk and the writer Ralph Ellison). So yes, "Invisible Man" is always in the back of Everett's mind somewhere.
Delete