What thoughts do you have on these excerpts? Do you see patterns...distinctions?
As you may know: Paul Robeson was an stage and screen actor and a political activist; Claude McKay was a poet; Jessie Fauset was a fiction writer and the literary editor at The Crisis magazine; Langston Hughes was a poet (among other things); Richard Wright was a novelist; J. A. Rogers was a journalist and historian; and last but not least Zora Neale Hurston was (principally) a fiction writer.
It saddens me to see how restricted these writers are in a world where they feel the need to express themselves. When Hughes writes about Paris being a place where one is allowed to be himself (free), I smile, yet quickly frown. I'm glad he has found a sense of joy in his life, however, I can't help but feel sorry for him. His words indicate that people can't always be themselves and that they can't always be free.
ReplyDeleteJessie Fauset believes that in order to blend in around those who look down on him, he needs to "stiffen" up. Similar to Langston Hughes, Fauset has been given a new look on life by living in a world where he is not shunned or looked down upon for being of a different race.
Fitting in with society is a must for all people and for Hughes and Fauset to be able to get a taste of that integrity allows them a state of normalcy, even though it may be in only one sector of the planet.
The quotes handed out in class are refreshing examples of the diversity and multiplicity within the African-American overseas diaspora. The writers seem as much concerned with social issues as they were with mere socializing. Robeson, for instance, seemed to take pleasure in the relaxed nature of his social existence, in the fact that he could frequent restaurants and hotels without fear of difficulties and condescension. Claude McKay's opinions are as practical as they are symbolic: cold weather, cold people; McKay seemed to view London as some industrial dystopia. Paris, inevitably, reads as a cliché both in Paris Noir and in the quotes. But if London above represents a tempered perspective on simple pleasures, Paris seems like the polar opposite of the Southern USA for these foreigners: complete freedom to be and do "whatever you want." Jessie Fauset, in describing her consciousness of "thou shalt not," makes a very astute observation of the puritanical and religiously rigid standards of the American experience that didn't exist in Paris. This observation transcends racial consideration, though she immediately identifies it as her chance to no longer be persecuted for having character. Perhaps this is what Claude McKay missed in London?
ReplyDeleteIt's no surprise that for someone like Richard Wright, it would be easy to completely embrace the opposite of your past experiences when your past experiences are demeaning and difficult; in some ways, it is reflected now by the way the gay community runs from their heartland and southern cities for Greenwich Village and Berkeley, vowing never to return! The most apparent conflict here has to do with what place the writer calls his home and I expect to see a lot of fiery debate over this. One can argue that even though Paris embraced African Americans, it did it under false pretenses, with a hyperconscious perspective on how to best utilize their immigrant black friends (a small and manageable community to covertly subject). Richard Wright earned his literary celebrity and then earned his right to call Paris his home, but the question of privilege is a nagging one. You even see the earliest notions of Black nationalism grinding against the gears of those who wanted the institutional ideas of race to be deconstructed and entombed.
A few thoughts after reading the quotes:
ReplyDeletePaul Robeson: His perspective is interesting because it seems largely influenced by class (in terms of both material and social capital). At that time, Robeson was a successful performer, undoubtedly recognized in the public spheres where the English were so "kind, cordial, and reasonable" in their demeanor towards him. His privilege allowed for dining at fine restaurants, living in a desired area of the city, and experiencing London in a way that a less resourced or recognized black person may not have encountered.
Claude McKay: Is Claude McKay African-American? He speaks of a childhood in Jamaica, so perhaps he's of Caribbean descent? While the black American and black Caribbean identities are related, I think it's important to distinguish in discussing black diasporic presence in Europe, though I can't articulate why I feel that way at the moment.
Jessie Fauset: I have to good-naturedly disagree whith you, Timothy. I think her statement about feeling unrestrained in Paris is extremely racialized. Specifically, as a black woman, Fauset feels she does not have to enact the learned self-protective mechanisms of invisibility and meekness to avoid white violence and other physical or societal consequences. In Paris, she feels her blackness does not incite consequences.
Zora Neale Hurston: If I hadn't read this quote, I might have expected her response to be exactly what it is. Kinda harsh Zora, but I feel you on your point...
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ReplyDeleteJessie Fauset points out that she is "conscious of belonging to another race," while Richard Wright comments that "It is so good to be somewhere where your color is the least important thing about you." Both parties are of course speaking on the topic of Paris. It is evident that Fauset and Wright feel similarly about the belief that the color of someone's skin can generally be found at the surface of most things in life that they, in one way or another, take part in (whether intentionally or otherwise). In other words, Fauset and Wright are aware that generally speaking, if one is African American, then that is something that most people (but particularly those that are not black) factor into the equation at most times. As a result, this makes African Americans highly aware of their "blackness" or so-called "otherness."
ReplyDeleteReading these two quotations reminded me of the article "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack," by Peggy McIntosh. Mainly because it made me think about how rarely white people have to think about their skin color and the way it affects their daily lives, while those such as Fauset and Wright are always fully aware of "belonging to another race." Similarly to McIntosh, I frequently forget many of the realizations on the list which she provides. Reading these quotations prompted me to revisit her work. In doing so, the importance of being "Totally yourself," as Langston Hughes puts it, was really underscored for me. After all, if I'm being truly honest, I don't think about the things on that list as often as I should, so to imagine living a life where every single point on there is a concern would definitely be difficult, to say the least. And of course that's putting it very lightly.