The Ethics of Living Jim Crow

This essay set the ball rolling in the first ten words of the opening sentence. "My first lesson in how to live as a Negro..." Immediately I picked up my sparkly blue gel pen and circled those ten words adding a note that no one should have to "learn" to live any differently than the next guy. No one should have to learn to take the blow, physically or mentally, of someone who's only reason for being "above" someone else was created in their very own mind. No one should have to worry about crossing into the "wrong" side of town, the distinguishing factor determining the right side from the wrong side for a person being their skin color. Some people may develop anger as a result of reading about such injustices, but I developed disappointment. Disappointed in what the American culture used to be like, and in what it, in some cases, continues to be today. In some ways reading about issues like Jim Crow Laws and their harmful affects on people who are no different than myself make me ashamed to be associated with white people because I am, well, white.
The first story within the essay focused on the unfair living conditions of the narrator growing up black in the Arkansas. The narrator was forced to watch the white kids bask in their artificial glory and green lawns while he was restricted to yellow grass and a crumbling brick home. What bothered me most about the boy's first "lesson" in the ways of living Jim Crow was that it was detrimental to his self esteem and pride. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not wishing that the boy would be cocky and have a head full of air, I just wish he would not have been told to be the weaker man. After getting hurt in a fight between him and his white neighbor kids, his mother scolded him. She told him he needed to be a good boy, to hide, and to let the white kids win. Living Jim Crow meant that he needed to praise the white people, make them feel better, and in return turn himself into a coward.
Many of the lessons he learned were learned through being employed by wealthy white men. His first employer seemed like a genuinely nice man and that fact was true for a long time. As soon as the boy made a mistake though, his boss suddenly became two faced and the boy was thrown under the bus. The white man also had told him that he should not want to get smart. He should only want to learn a skill. From his various work situation, the boy learned that he was to be unintelligent and to follow what the white folks said to a tee. This is just as wrong as the lesson he learned from his mother because everyone has the capability to learn and should be able to do so if they wish. Education is a battle.
So, my disappointment came from the actions of the white people. Who ever said they had the power to downgrade the black people? I realize that not everything is fair, and not everything should be fair, but not one single person gets to decide their skin color so why hold it against them? In my opinion, there is no point in being angry over what has occurred in the past for there is nothing anyone can do about it now. I think disappointment is alright, and even valuable because it can drive people to do better than they have previously done. Yes, Jim Crow Laws were terrible, but move on. Read the stories, the essays, the history books, and learn from them. Notice what went wrong and what went right and then do better.

"Talk of the Town"

September 11, 2001 is a day that haunts Americans to this very day. Due to the horrific events that occurred, many Americans live their lives in fear. America has altered the ways in which it operates in attempt to make every aspect of life ultra safe. Airports have increased security, and schools lock their doors to everyone, including the students. While everyone shares the same idea that 9-11 was indeed a terrible event, not everyone shares the same opinion on where America is headed now. John Updike speaks about his 9-11 experience with the idea that America will continue to shine just as they always had. Susan Sontag dug deeper into what America, the government in particular, has become since the attacks and believes that America, while it may still be strong, is being controlled by fear.

Updike witnessed the September 11th attacks from his tenth-floor apartment room not even a mile away from the twin towers. At first he describes the event as curious, as if it were just a T.V. show, not a reality. Then, once it becomes evident that the event was indeed real, Updike goes into further detail of 9-11. Throughout that day the attacks were broadcast on the news. One by one the shining towers collapsed into a heap of debris spewing smoke that cloaked the majority of the city. When dawn rose again the next morning though, Updike was able to look beyond the smog and still notice how, "The fresh sun shone on the eastward facades, a few boats tentatively moved in the river, the ruins were still sending out smoke, but New York looked glorious." If New York could prove to still be glorious on one of the worst days in American history, surely the rest of America could do the same.

Sontag saw a more frightening angle of the 9-11 attacks. She noticed how, in her own words, "Politics, the politics of a democracy-which entails disagreement, which promotes candor-had been replaced by psychotherapy." The psychotherapy developed as a result of the attacks. Sontag wrote how the government has convinced America, or at least tried to convince America, that the attacks are behind them and that it is alright to move on. America is okay. America is still strong. "But that's not all America has to be." That line, referring to America being strong, is the line Sontag ends with and it sums up her essay perfectly. Americans should be strong but they cannot be stupid, and stupid yet strong is exactly how Americans are acting today.