Franklin Kourtney Franklin Dr Henderson English 240-14 March 9 Garvey, Mckay and Hurston’s Attitude towards White America The post-Civil War period in America saw the emergence of segregation between White and African Americans. Segregation was created with the intention of keeping everything equal but separate between the two communities. By the late 1800s and early 1900s, this equal but separate narrative of segregation had been adapted into white superiority, resulting in much limitation and racial tension, particularly among former freed slaves. Marcus Garvey, Claude Mckay, and Zora Neale Hurston, like many other black social activists, aimed to break down this barrier. Despite their disparities in beliefs and attitudes, the three of them shared a common goal: equality between whites and African Americans. Marcus Garvey in his work in, ‘The Future as I See It,’ seeks to explain how the African American community must seek to overcome the struggles that they are facing, to move forward in society, “We have determined among ourselves that all barriers placed in the way of our progress must be removed, must be cleared away for we desire to see the light of a brighter day.” (Page 989). He claims that people who have not struggled or suffered as much as African Americans cannot give them advice. He believed that white America was impeding the growth of African Americans by crippling them. Garvey stated that propaganda was used against the Universal Negro Improvement Association, with some claiming that the organization’s true goal is to sow discord and discontent among races, or even to hate other people, Franklin in order to misinterpret its true goal and cause racial strife. He stated that he found it strange that many in white America now wanted to advise African Americans on how to act and which organizations they should join, yet they didn't care about them when they were reduced to being slaves for 250 years, “The new Negro refuses to take advice from anyone who has not felt with him and suffered with him.” (page 990). Claude McKay expresses his rage at white men for not only burning but also murdering his people. He goes on to say that he is capable of also doing the same wrongs or even more to the white man for what they did to his people. “Be not deceived, for every deed you do I could matchout match: am I not Afric’s son…" (Page 1005). Claude claims that because of what happened to his people, it is also easy for him to avenge them, and thus succumb to the stereotypes of the time, which depicted African Americans as uneducated, immoral, and violent, with no sense of high purpose. However, we see him stating that the reason he would not do the same things is because he believes it is his God-given duty to show the world that not all African Americans are susceptible to the narratives set forth by the white man. We see him say that rather than acting on his rage against the white man, he would rather write everything down, thus contradicting white America’s narrative that African Americans are uneducated. Claude is well aware of how his actions will affect others, and he must be mindful of the fact that he is a role model to his people. Zora Neale Hurston in “How it Feels to Be Colored Me,” writes from her perspective about how she discovers and explores her identity and self-pride. Through anecdotes, metaphors, and controversial statements, she conveys her perspective on race as a social construct. She begins by Franklin stating that she is an African American woman who is proud of her heritage. We see how her encounters with various forms of racism have given her an incorrect sense of identity. We also see how she pays no attention to the racists who have caused her pain. She discusses how white American’s lack of cultural embrace has led them to despise black culture. Zora states that the whites think that African America’s are preoccupied with the notion that they are inferior to them, which could not be anything further from the truth.
