Tuesday, April 17, 2012
The Street-Racism
I sadly wasn't in class this past Monday, and I was wondering if we talked about evidence of Racism in the street. During my last few readings, race has definitely become more of a factor in correlation to socioeconomic status. It appears that racism occurs even more towards those who don't have money. When Lutie and Boots are pulled over by police officers, they are let go either out of fear or the money bribe Boots displays. However, we know its out of money because Boots relay money to the officer in exchange of being let free (page 166). Lutie views Boots being able to be let "free" because of money. Is this suggesting that money is the underlying factor for freedom? Can money make the rules different for others> Boots is able to get gas and avoid the army as well due to his wealth. "Money made all a difference in things that you could have and the things that you were denied-even gas" (page 164). Lutie really begins to realize and affirm her own thinking that money is the necessity to succeed.
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I kind of posted about this in mine, but I definitely think race is addressed in this text whether we are aware of it or not, because Lutie's color (whether she wanted it to or not) played a part in dictating every aspect of her life. She doesn't ask to be oppressed by these constraints or to live on the street where she does or to have her opportunities be limited by her skin color, but it definitely shapes her life and its course.
ReplyDeleteI think this text really represents how inseparable race and gender really are. We had an involved discussion with Michael about the New Negro Woman and the New White Woman, but I don't know if aspects of either are really comparable. The black woman seems overly-sexualized--the progression of the street points to how all the significant male characters of the book want to own Lutie. I thought it was even more perverted that they all scheme together to "own' Lutie. This was only was one of the struggles of the New Negro Woman.
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