How Would You Choose?

      Wavering between two nations and two cultures; I could not imagine the feeling of being in the middle of two things I love and have to constantly deal with choosing between the two. My perplexing question would be “How do you choose?” I mean I have never been in a situation to the extent that McKay felt while being moved from Africa to America. My biggest problems have been choosing which shoes to wear with this outfit. I want to know how he would handle things. How can he get along with his life with a constant struggle between two cultures? He states, “Something in me is lost, forever lost/ Some vital thing has gone out of my heart”. I honestly wouldn’t know how to handle anything if I was moved from my home to a new country with completely different customs than that of my home. The poem is a riveting account of his fight with overcoming the obstacle that is his “natural culture”. The title alone, “Outcast”, already describes what a hardship that McKay dealt with. If I ever felt like an outcast, I’m not sure how I would handle it. I don’t handle change very well so I would guess it would be very hard for me to adjust and be ok with myself enough to make an effort to fit in!
         In general, I think that McKay was brave to endure the battle between what he had become accustomed to and what he was literally hit in the face with when he moved to America! If I had been in that situation I would not have been as strong as he sounds in his poem. So how do you choose? My guess is that it just has to come naturally.

That "Aha" Moment

As I read Frances EW Harper’s poem, “Learning to Read”, my understanding of the text didn’t come until the end. I found that as I was reading, I was paying special attention to “read in between the lines” because for some reason I always miss some crucial piece of the reading until it is explained in class. As I got to the end of this poem, however, I realized that this poem is as straight forward as can be. The poem is literally about “Chloe” finally learning how to read, even though she is sixty. As I was reading the last line I caught myself going back and making sure I hadn’t missed something. But my realization of the text was perfectly clear; this poem really is about a slave woman finally being given her right to learn how to read. As I finished the poem I thought to myself, “Wow. Harper does an amazing job of making the message so clear and simple while still using complex texts.”

As I read Charles W. Chesnutt’s story, “The Wife of his Youth”, I was completely shocked when I realized that this story was different than what I expected. I was so overwhelmed when I realized how much of a journey and how much courage that Mr. Ryder’s first wife must have had to travel all that time for her true love. I honestly don’t know if I could be without my true love for that amount of time! I can’t even fathom the extraordinary pain and suffering (emotionally) the women went through. My moment of realization came when I had to put myself in her shoes and ask, “Could I myself do that for someone”. As of right now, the question is still unanswered!

JOURNAL #9

This reading had many connections with present day issues, mainly in politics. The first one I found was on page 7. It discusses how Congress had decided to pass the Compromise of 1877. This did many things but one big one was that it withdrew the troops from the South. This made me think of when President Barack Obama pulled the troops out of Iraq, though it has been a few years. The troops had been “deployed to ensure free elections and to protect black populations from attacks by whites who were determined to retain political power in the South…” (pg. 7) reminds me of how the troops in Iraq had not been taken out in order to protect the innocent people from groups seeking to hurt them, like al-Qaida.

Another connection I made is on page 17 discussing the anti-Chinese sentiments and immigration laws. During this time in the US, many Chinese immigrants had come into the state in order build railroads and provide for their family. In 1882 though, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act which “prevented people from china from entering the country unless they were joining relatives…” (pg. 17). This reminded me of the Arizona SB 170, which is the strictest and largest anti-illegal immigration act in the US. The law prevents illegals from entering into the United States. I think that this comparison of the introduction and the present day shows that history does repeat itself!

Journal #8 Response to Kaity Wegen

I would have to completely dispute your idea of Lincoln. I do agree that he is not Jesus Christ, but he was a “god-like” figure to many people. I think Lincoln was an amazing man and great president. Though he encouraged war, he was fighting for freedom of people that didn’t deserve to be enslaved. Coming from my perspective, I think that Lincoln can be a Christ-like figure to many of the free African Americans that are in the north, and possibly some of the enslaved ones still in the South. I think that in order to restore peace, which was Lincoln’s overall goal, he needed to fight the war or else it would never be resolved! While reading this, it seemed like I was reading the exact replica of something a white southerner would say. It almost scared me to think that people actually did think like that and believe that Lincoln was a bad man!