Friday, March 27, 2020

Eddy De Luca Essays - Junot Daz, Racism, American Literature

Eddy De Luca Professor Nils Slattum English M01B 21 February 2018 Dating in a Society of Ethnic Injustices The short story "How to date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie" was composed by a writing professor at MIT by the name of Junot Diaz. The narrator guides us through exactly how a date will or should go with a girl of color and addresses the reader in a "how-to" way. He uses situations and language to support the ideas presented in the story, and to make a vivid, but understated fact about racism in our current society. The narrator speaks in a casual tone to make the reader feel comfortable and open to relate to the text. He begins by calling the reader "you," which he does throughout the whole text. The narrator brings up having a brother which he wants the reader to relate to someone the reader may feel a close bond with like a loyal family member. He adds to this sense of honorability by using a strong and direct language to make the reader believe in his will to do something. By allowing the reader to relate, it allows the reader to understand the outlandish messages a little bit better. The Narrator mentions "the Movement," in which he is referring to the 1960's African-American Civil Rights Movement, to end raci sm in the United States. When the halfie brings this up, the narrator thinks her parents made her memorize it, but it just shows how much it meant to her and her family. This gets the reader thinking about a something a little greater than a short story about a young man trying to get laid. When the Narrator is talking about going to dinner with a halfie and says it will be tense, this shows the awkwardness between a boy and a girl in the teenage years of age. The narrator then states the response by "your brother," and says, "Man, sounds like a whole lot of Uncle Tomming to me." I believe this is a reference to the great eye-opening novel , Uncle Tom's Cabin . This is a story about an African-American slave named Uncle Tom who aided in setting the foundation for the Civil War . The suggestion that the halfie is dismayed by the comment is implying she is sensitive about race and equality in our world . The fact that "your brother" would say something like that also shows the amount of racial insensitivity between Americans and shows that people are starting to see these topics as something for our country's past only . The awareness of racial discrimination being something from a time in our historical past is reinforced when the girl starts her story with "Back then," showing that she believes it is mostly gone, but not f orgotten. The thought that ethnic labels are not a modern issue any longer is transparent and shown to be false throughout the en tire short story . A good example are the r emarks implying that a girl of a certain race will act in specific ways , or a girl with specific ethnicit ies are better . Even the title of the story implies noteworthy alterations in ethn ic backgrounds and the way that people view each other. When the girl states that black people have treated her bad in past experiences the narrator is addressing the topic of racism as a very tangible problem . Racism in America something that roots from everyone and usually is only negative . These one-faced statements like the girl saying she does not like black people , groups everyone of one race into a single body and does not consider that everyone is unique, and it is not fair t o stereotype just from the actions of someone else . The narrator has been affected by his Dominican background and is not proud of it. When he hides his family's pictures from his poor life in the Dominican before the girl comes over shows that he is very insecure about his true self. The narrator is insecure because of firsthand experience of being put down for something he has no control over. "How to date

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