The Book-Of-The-Semester Project 2007 - 2008

1.  Paraphrasing and Responding:

                         Although I ceased to experience racial discrimination on a daily basis,                
                  race remained a burden for me, the most oppressive burden of my life.  In fact,
                  race is a double burden.  Coping with racism is onerous; but so is coping with
                  the myriad effects of that racism on blacks in general, the ways in which the
                  harsh conditions under which most of us live have led to patterns of behavior
                  that are themselves destructive.  And yet I am no tragic mulatto, caught
                  poignantly or forlornly between the races, as are many Coloreds in South
                  Africa or mulattos in the Caribbean.  Any person, black or white, who refuses
                  to surrender himself or herself to racism is bound to know that feeling
                  intimately.  One is on the margin or between two groups if one chooses to be
                  rational rather than emotional, judicious rather than passionate, inclusive
                  rather than sectarian.  In this racial divide, I often find myself critical of both
                  whites and blacks.  In the end, I am not for black or white, nor even for the
                  United States of America, but for the whole of humanity.  I can’t define
                  myself finally as an African American, or an American.  My humanity comes
                  first.  I have felt that way since I have known myself, and I hope to die that
                  way.  (153)

Write in your own words what Arthur Ashe says here.  Then consider the following:  Does Arthur Ashe make sense to you?  Is it possible to be “rational rather than emotional, judicious rather than passionate, inclusive rather than sectarian” if one has been a victim of racism throughout one’s life?  Given his past history, is it possible for someone like Ashe to say, “I am not for black or white, nor even for the United States of America, but for the whole of humanity”? 

2.  Focused Reading:

                          The discrediting of formal education as it existed in the United
                    States was perhaps the most disastrous result of Black Power. 
                    Unquestionably, our formal education had ignored black history and culture. 
                    But when the idea of a black student learning Russian or Polish, medieval
                    history or quantum physics, became anathema in the more militant circles, as
                    it did, a disaster was in the making.  Such an education, it was said,
                    amounted to a betrayal of our racial heritage.  The only legitimate areas of
                    knowledge were those that could be defined through their connection to
                    Africa.  The assumption seemed to be that Africa itself did not need experts
                    on Russia, Poland, medieval European history, or quantum physics, in
                    addition to experts on Africa.  If the discrediting of education started with the
                    curriculum, it did not stop there.  White teachers and professors became
                    suspect or worse.  The discipleship of student to professor, which is the
                    principal method by which deep learning is passed on, so that experts nurture
                    experts, became nearly impossible; how could a proud young black man
                    subject himself to a white figure of authority?  Finally, in increasingly wide
                    circles among teenage blacks, learning itself became discredited.  To study
                    hard, to aim for good grades, has become to “act white,” which is supposed
                    to be the gravest charge one can level at a young black man or woman today. 
                    However, since the best students in the United States increasingly are Asian,
                    perhaps “act Asian” should be the charge; in which case the element of color
                    disappears.  (162-163)

Read the paragraph closely and explain in your own words Ashe’s criticism of the Black Power movement.   What does he write about the school curriculum, the relationship between black students and their professors, and the attitude of black youth towards being educated? What is your response to Ashe’s words?  In developing their identity, should African Americans have an Afro-centric education?  Should their teachers be black only?  Should they revere the learning life?

3. Developing an Opinion:

Ashe writes the following in regard to affirmative action:

“If American society had the strength to do what should be done to ensure that justice prevails for all, then affirmative action would be exposed for what it is:  an insult to the people it is intended to help.  What I and others want is an equal chance, under one set of rules, as on a tennis court.  To be sure, while rules are different for different people, devices like affirmative action are needed to prevent explosions of anger.  Practically, affirmative action is probably necessary.  But I would not want to know that I received a job simply because I am black.  Affirmative action tends to undermine the spirit of individual initiative.  Such is human nature; why struggle to succeed when you can have something for nothing” (170)?

Do you agree or disagree with Ashe?  Write an essay for or against affirmative action.