Colored People, by Henry Louis Gates Jr. - 1745 Words

One of the most influential and enlightening scholars in contemporary academics who focuses primarily on African-American issues, both from the past and the present, is undoubtedly Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Born in 1950 and raised in the small, middle-class, colored community of Piedmont, West Virginia, Gatess acclaimed 1995 autobiography, Colored People, brings readers to a place and time in America when both the racial boundaries and the definition of progress were changing weekly. Colored People, however, is not about race specifically. Rather, it is a story which chronicles how his family existed during a unique time in American history -- a time when attempts at desegregation were just beginning. Starting with a preface that†¦show more content†¦When the depictions of the Gates and family and the Coleman family -- which show how although being colored was no disgrace, also show of it was awfully inconvenient -- are taken together, we, as readers, get a sense of the fre edom that integration offered, but also the fear of the future that African-Americans sensed, for they -- as one would expect -- found it difficult to leave behind the life they knew for a new, uncertain one. In fact, recent decades have proved that the fear of uncertainty that Gatess relatives had was reasonable. Take, for example, affirmative action, which was a result of integration. The greater civil rights that it was supposed to trigger did not happen. In fact, because those most in need still lacked competitive resources that would allow them to take advantage of the opportunities for individual advancement available in a more meritocratic society, the most economically deprived of African-Americans benefited little from affirmative action (Gross, 71). This statement referencing our current situation in post-integration America most definitely supports the fears that the Gates and the Coleman family had back in the 1950s and 1960s. In addition to seeing concrete examples -- from members of both the Gates and theShow MoreRelatedColored People by Henry Louis Gates Jr.643 Words   |  3 PagesI feel there are many reasons that Henry Louis Gates Jr chose Colored People as the title of his memoir. I think the word Colored in the title was used to group everyone as a whole. The word Colored was also used to self identify different races inside and out of Piedmont. I think he used People to say that everyone matters no matter where you hail from. The word Colored and the word People have two different meanings alone. But put the two together they become a powerful piece to theRead MoreHenry Louis Gates Jr.1976 Words   |  8 PagesRustick English 3080 7 February 2016 Henry Louis Gates Jr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Director of the Hutchins Center for African American Research at Harvard University, and an esteemed Alphonse Fletcher University Professor. According to his Harvard University profile he is an â€Å"Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, journalist, cultural critic, institution builder†¦and the recipient of fifty-five honorary degrees and numerous prizes.† Professor Gates was also the first African AmericanRead MoreAnalysis of Henry Louis Gates Jrs Whats in a Name?1132 Words   |  5 PagesWhats in a Name? Henry Louis Gates, Jr. What really is in a name? Apparently, there is a lot. In Henry Louis Gates, Jr.s story, Whats in a Name, there is a telling story about a young boy learning the powerful pain and humiliation in the racist practices of American society. Gates illustrates how racism can perpetuate prejudice that aims to take away individual identity and put entire groups of people down. Yet, the fact that Skip was willing to never look Mr. Wilson in the yes again showsRead More Names and Titles in Gloria Naylors novel, Mommy, What Does Nigger Mean1444 Words   |  6 Pages degrade. Society implies the people and the atmosphere encompassing an individual in her daily life. Culture is closely tied to the society of a person--it is the aspects of her life which are directly influenced by such issues as race, color, nationality, religion, sexuality, and any other number of things that mark a person as distinct. Culture, though an integral part of everyones lives, is frequently misunderstood or seen as threatening by people outside of the group in questionRead More The Conveyance of Emotion in the Writing of Zora Neale Hurston1668 Words   |  7 PagesThe Conveyance of Emotion in the Writing of Zora Neale Hurston Sharpening Her Oyster Knife: I am not tragically colored. There is no great sorrow dammed up in my soul, nor lurking behind my eyes. I do not mind at all. I do not belong to the sobbing school of Negrohood who hold that nature somehow has given them a lowdown dirty deal and whose feelings are all hurt about it....No, I do not weep at the world -- I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife. Read MoreSignificance of the Harlem Renaissance817 Words   |  3 Pagesthrough art and literature, in an effort to create an identity for themselves equal to that of the white Americans. Many writers influenced this period with their works, and African Americans gained their rightful place in American Literary history (Gates Jr. and McKay). The Harlem Renaissance was the period of time between the end of World War I and the middle 1930s depression. Also called the New Negro Renaissance, it was a period in history when talented African American writers produced volumes ofRead MoreWomen Organizers in the Civil Rights Movement2163 Words   |  9 Pagescomplaining about discrimination economic and political self sufficiency. Women took up the initiative to participate in these movements. This situation later led to serious confrontation between government authorities and activists. Thousands of people took part in the civil right movement of that period especially in the United States. The key leaders of the campaign, include; Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, Rosa Parks, James Meredith and Medgar Evers, played crucial roles forRead MoreWomen Organizers in the Civil Rights Movement2170 Words   |  9 Pagescomplaining about discrimination economic and political self sufficiency. Women took up the initiati ve to participate in these movements. This situation later led to serious confrontation between government authorities and activists. Thousands of people took part in the civil right movement of that period especially in the United States. The key leaders of the campaign, include; Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, Rosa Parks, James Meredith and Medgar Evers, played crucial roles forRead MoreLetter from a Birmingham Jail Analysis1025 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"A Letter from Birmingham Jail† by Martin Luther King Jr. was written in the margins of a letter posted by the clergymen of Alabama at this time that sparked his interest and while he inhabited the jail cell for parading around without a permit. This time allowed him the ability to respond wholeheartedly to this cynical oppressing. King’s letter addresses specific points presented in the Clergymen’s and this direct response distinguishes King’s strong points through his powerful writ ing.   UnethicalRead MoreAchievement of the American Dream of an African American Family in The Cosby Show1801 Words   |  7 Pagesraces–an image that most Americans understood as inaccurate. In the 1980s, most African Americans lived below the poverty line and primetime television hesitated to present that challenged ideology of the American Dream to the viewing public. Henry Louis Gates Jr. argues, in Color Adjustment, that the Black urban sitcoms demonstrated both the greatest potential for representing Black life in television’s history and also the greatest failure. Residing comfortably in a Brooklyn brownstone, the Huxtables