Taking the Short View

By February 6, 2016 BlogPost No Comments
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The article by Elizabeth McHenry and Shirley Brice Heath argued that historians have been woefully shortsighted when labeling African American culture as one that has a predominantly oral one. I found their article to be of particular interest because it mirrors what I am learning in another class on race, gender, and the law. We’ve learned about the selective nature of histories written by white scholars, and how those same scholars have overlooked certain aspects of the broader narrative in order to support a preexisting thesis. What this has done is severely limited what we have access to, because, as the article reflected, African American history is rife with presses and literary circles helmed and produced by prominent African Americans.

What I found particularly disturbing was the assertion that teachers select works written by African American authors that feature characters of limited means and language for their classes, instead of reflecting educated middle and upper class African Americans. There is certainly an ideology at play when they do so, one that works to perpetuate the image of African Americans as illiterate and subservient. However, I find the works of Harriet Jacobs particularly arresting and I believe that her life story is one that is a critical read as it details the effects of slavery on women and mothers. Jacobs’ book is just as important as the works of Ida B. Wells as they provide a telling of a crucial historical moment.

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