As I analyze this piece written entitled Nigger written by Dick Gregory I cannot help but being reminded of the struggle that African Americans went through in order to secure a future for the next generation of people. There is one particular line that is mentioned here I want to focus on, and that line is found on page 597 where Gregory states that “I had made speeches that every door of racial prejudice I can kick down is one less door that my children have to kick down. But my kids don’t have to worry.” I have often heard that my generation of blacks does not appreciate the opportunities that we as blacks have now that those who fought and struggled and went to prison for did not have. Often times our generation forgets but reading this quote is truly beautiful, because we do have more opportunities now than before. These people who struggled to kick these doors down have indeed gave us in my generation one less door to kick down. I also found this other point found on page 593 interesting as well in which Gregory describes this gentlemen that changed his life around as the type of African American that every other Negro in America would look down upon. When I read that I said that is so true, because even within the black community the darker you are the more likely you will be talked about and looked upon negatively. Perhaps blacks have been conditioned to reason that way due to the propaganda of cartoons and television but again the point is this was a man who fought for freedom as Gregory points out. I am thankful for reading this article because being black; this is a reminder and an appreciation of the number of doors that have been kicked down so that my generation of blacks has fewer doors to kick down.
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One of the other students questioned whether African-Americans are taught to a greater extent about Civil Rights. While I appreciate that most classrooms are multiracial and would not necessarily be tailored to certain racial or ethnic groups because of this, I am curious whether you learned about any of this week's readings from school or from other sources (personal reading, community etc). I was never taught the history of my own country, and have never been interested in it - I have always been interested in European or international history (which I was also taught at school). We often have a bias, though, that people want to or should learn about their own past. Does it make more of a difference where there is past injustice and thus something at stake in one's identity? What are your thoughts on this? (I'm not asking you to speak on behalf of a cultural group, but just to articulate your own thoughts on historical teachings - I'm sure this will come into play in your Visual Mythology essay also).
You make the statement "Often times our generation forgets" - what exactly do you mean by this - what has been forgotten and why has it been forgotten?
You mention the differences in skin color between the African-American community. Are you familiar with certain cultural phenomenon such as the "tragic mulatto" stereotype in nineteenth-century fiction, and the notion of "passing" which was a prevalent topic during the Harlem Renaissance?
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