- “For the men who needed to believe themselves white, the bodies were the key to a social club, and the right to break the bodies was the mark of civilization. ‘The two great divisions of society are not the rich and poor, but white and black,’ said the great South Carolina senator John C. Calhoun. ‘And all the former, the poor as well as the rich, belong to the upper class, and are respected and treated as equals’” (104). How do you think this idea functions to establish race – and not class or wealth – as a key division in the mid-1800s in this country?
I think this idea functions to establish race as the key division because if a white person were to be poor they would still have certain advantages that a black poor person wouldn’t have. It’s not as much a matter of how much money you have, it’s what you look like plus how much money you have.
- Your choice I: Connect Calhoun’s idea and Coates use of it to one of the following. In your response, summarize the new passage and explain a possible connection, and make a comment or raise a question about it:
- Coates’ discussion of redlining (108-11),
- the body and “disembodiment” (113-14),
- “the struggle” (106-07) and “growing into consciousness” (107),
- or to Paris (119, 127).
I would connect this week’s reading to option three which is struggle and growing into consciousness. Throughout the passage he talks about How his struggles have shaped him and how younger he would even be proud. This shows how even though his life hasn’t been easy, maybe he wouldn’t change what he has been through since it has led him to be who he is today. He is aware of race and what racism is but it has helped him to become a writer and question everything.
- Your choice II: Choose any other passage from our reading for today. Set it up, quote it, and raise a comment or question about it.
“When I look back, I know that I was then getting the message from all over. By the time my friends were included a great number of people with ties to different worlds. ‘Make the race proud’ the elders used to say… that they fashioned like diamonds under the weight of the dream.” (Coates 119).
I chose this passage because I think it shows a point of realization for Coates and it shows how he is proud of who he is and what he has gone through.
