S26 Critical Writing & Research mid-sem

college essay

Prompt
How are American racial identities created, challenged, or transformed in relationship to each other? How does this also inform a broader complex “American identity” (or multiple conflicting claims to “Americanness”)? What do these readings suggest about the shifting foundations of racial loyalties, gender and sexuality roles, measures of success, relationships to land, or inter-generational ties in the United States? Write an essay in which you compare/ contrast the process of American racial identity formation between three (3) groups of your choice (list #1-5). Choose one to two (1-2) texts from each group to analyze with each other. Also choose one (1) Identity Formation text (list #6) to support your arguments.

#1. African Americans
• Langston Hughes, “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain.”
• Zora Neale Hurston, “How it Feels to be Colored Me.”
#2. Asian Americans
• Viet Thanh Nguyen, “I Love America. That’s Why I Have to Tell the Truth About It.”
• Mine Okubo, Citizen 13660.
#3. European Americans
• Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself.”
• Anzia Yezierska, “America and I.”
#4. Native Americans
• Winona LaDuke, “What is Sacred?”
#5. Puerto Ricans
• Aurora Levins Morales, “Child of the Americas.”

#6. Identity Formation
• Toni Morrison, “Racism and Fascism.”
• Aurora Levins Morales, “What Race Isn’t: Teaching About Racism.”
• National Museum of African American History and Culture, “Historical Foundations of Race.”





The Struggle Over Racial Identity

         For a long time, one’s identity has been judged solely on skin color or religion. The American identity is one based on the principles of freedom, opportunity, and equality. The experiences of individuals in marginalized racial groups, however, suggest that this identity has never been universally accessible. The notion of racial identity for African American, Asian American, and Native American persons and communities implies that the notion of racial identity is developed in response to the dominant narrative offered by the white population. Authors like Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston investigate the effects of white supremacy on African Americans. Authors like Viet Thanh Nguyen and Mine Okubo investigate the effects of being Japanese American and Japanese American during the WWII years on identity and community. Winona LaDuke completely alters the conversation about identity and the American identity by focusing on the Native American and indigenous identity and its connection to the land. The combination of Toni Morrison’s discussion of the role of racism in American society and the discussion from these authors suggests that the concept of American and racial identities is based on conflict and that the concept of being American is also conflicted and unstable.
In “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain,” Langston Hughes identifies the obstacle that stands in the way of Black artistic and personal freedom: the desire to be white. The racial mountain that Hughes describes is internal. He shares the example of a young black poet who says, “I want to be a poet—not a Negro poet.” This type of thinking shows that the power of whiteness is overwhelming the black community. The black artist is forced to try to emulate what is seen in the white world to be accepted. Hughes completely rejects this idea. Instead, he elevates jazz and blues, two distinctly black art forms, as valid and worthy of consideration. For Hughes, identity must be reclaimed. The American dream, then, does not mean losing the black experience and expression. Yet the very need that Hughes makes to prove this point suggests the dominant force in American culture is whiteness.
In addition to challenging Hughes’s specific arguments, Hurston also takes a different approach to exploring the themes of identity and assimilation. In the opening line, she writes, “I am not tragically colored.” This signals to the reader that Hurston does not see her color as a tragic part of her existence. Instead, Hurston describes the advantages of growing up in Eatonville, where she was the only child and did not have to compare herself to others of the same color. When Hurston leaves Eatonville, she becomes aware of being “colored.” However, rather than seeing this as a source of inferiority, Hurston becomes proud of her individuality. She refers to herself as a “cosmic Zora.” Despite these differences, both Hurston and Hughes work to convince the reader that the identity of black people should not be compared to that of white people. Both authors desire to be a part of America, but they also want to be assured that such inclusion will not come at the cost of losing their individuality.
Toni Morrison’s “Racism and Fascism” provides a theoretical lens through which one can understand the reason for the existence of the racial mountain. Morrison argues that racism is essentially a type of distraction. The individuals in power use this to divide the people and to hide the fact that people are being exploited. By instilling in white citizens, the feeling of superiority over others, those in power ensure that the social hierarchy remains intact. The maintenance of white supremacy and the resultant exploitation of black communities, according to Morrison, is what makes black Americans feel less than, and in turn, this is a result of the need to maintain white supremacy.
While Hughes and Hurston explore the ways in which readers might feel uneasy about certain internalized standards and beliefs, Asian American writers explore the way in which one can have Americanness revoked. In “I Love America. That’s Why I Have to Tell the Truth About It,” Viet Thanh Nguyen addresses the notion of “love it or leave it” as an American. As an immigrant and a person of color, Nguyen suggests that anyone who has anything bad to say about America is essentially turning their back on the country they love. However, Nguyen’s need to defend this argument highlights the fact that his sense of belonging is conditional. Unlike individuals who are white and critics of the United States, those of racial minorities are required to show that they are loyal to the United States. Nguyen’s identity as an Asian American is intertwined with this sense of suspicion. While Nguyen does suggest that dissent from American ideals is a form of patriotism, the existence of the “love it or leave it” mentality suggests that Nguyen’s acceptance within American society is fragile.
Another major example of this fragility in history is Mine Okubo and her work, Citizen 13660. Okubo was an American citizen shipped off to a Japanese internment camp based on her Japanese descent. Her work consists of drawings and commentary that illustrate the different humiliations and deprivation of liberties she and her fellow inmates experienced. However, the tone in which Okubo discusses it is extremely muted, which makes the way she and others were treated even worse. Despite having the constitution and the protections that it offered, Okubo was denied her rights due to the racism that existed in the United States. Toni Morrison effectively draws the reader into the situation, as the reader can see the way that racism allowed the Japanese Americans to be treated the way that they were. Despite the efforts by many others to give these groups a voice, the treatment of Asian Americans as depicted by Nguyen and Okubo indicates the unique challenges these populations face compared to others, such as those by Hughes and Hurston.
The Lakota writer’s perspective on this topic complicates the framework of what it means to be American. Both Hughes and Hurston work to redefine the idea of Black identity in America. Nguyen and Okubo work to show how this can lead to the withdrawal of national feelings. LaDuke goes a step further to suggest that the foundation of the American nation is illegitimate. Like Morrison, LaDuke suggests that much of the historical focus on the country was rooted in the idea of racism. The justification for acquiring Indigenous land was based on the idea that they were savages and subhuman. The racial hierarchy enabled the American colonization of Native Americans. As such, the assertion of Native identity is an assertion of the illegitimacy of the American narrative.
When placed in dialogue with one another, these different groups and their writings reveal the differences between the different conceptions of what it means to be American. African American writers focus on the need to be legitimized within the cultural hierarchy. Asian American writers call attention to the instability of citizenship. Native American writing questions the idea of land ownership and the origins of the American nation. In all three cases, the writers do show the relational formation of racial identity, but also the differences between the ways in which they understand and respond to this process.
         The measures of success that these authors describe also shift. For example, many of the African American writers such as Alain Locke and James Weldon Johnson emphasize the importance of artistic authenticity. However, others, such as Toni Morrison, focus on the importance of individual success. Still others, such as Okubo and LaDuke, focus on the ability to function within a society without being rejected from it. The different ways in which these authors define success reveals the differences in the way that they understand what it means to be American.
         Ultimately, these texts show that the American identity is not static or something that is agreed upon by all citizens. The racial dynamics that are present in these texts show that certain groups of people are given power and others are not. Morrison’s insightful discussion of racism makes clear that this is a structural and functional aspect of American society. Each writer connects to and discusses this idea in their text in their own unique way.
         The American racial identities are dynamic and created as a response to the power that exists within the structure of American society. These identities are shaped by the way in which people are excluded from the American social structure. Instead of a harmonious melting pot of different cultures, America is a contested piece of land and society. These writers significantly impact and redefine the way in which people view American identity. The identity of America is not a singular concept but a series of concepts being created and changing in response to the actions of those who are forced to change to fit within the American social structure. For American identity to have any real meaning, it must work to change the structures that shaped the American people. Overall, these texts reveal that the identity of America remains unfinished and is still being created by its people.