Interracial Identities

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that allowing the southern states to decide policy on Reconstruction after the Civil War was a big mistake on the part of the federal government because the South created the Jim Crow laws, which put into motion the segregation of the races. The author points out that the response time for the aid to the New Orleans hurricane victims illustrates that slavery remains ingrained in American culture, dividing Americans into interracial identities of not only race but also class and economic status. The paper examines the works of African-American Langston Hughes and Japanese-American David Mura for contemporary examples of the problem of interracial identities in the U.S..

Table of Contents:
Introduction
America's Civil War and Aftermath
Contemporary Samples
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"In Langston Hughes' poem "Cross", he discusses what it is like to be a biracial man in America and it is his character's anger that resonates. It is very clear how much he resents being both black and white with the language he chooses. There is the respect he feels for his father but lack of respect for his mother that comes across clearly. As if there is shame involved being a product of the union between two different colored people but also two people from different stations in society. This leaves him not only as a cross between the two people but also with a cross to bear in life as he struggles with his own identity."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Africans in America. 1 Dec. 2005 <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/ala/part4/4narr5.html>.
• Foner, Eric. "Radical Individualism in America." Literature of Liberty 5-31.
• Hughes, Langston. "Cross." 13 Dec. 2005 <http://www.oldpoetry.com/poetry/6482>.
• McPherson, James, M. The Struggle for Equality. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1964.
• Mura, David. After We Lost Our Way. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1989.

More papers on Interracial Identities:

• Case Study # 128779 : "Interracial Adoption"
• Analytical Essay # 116483 : "Wallace Thurman's "The Blacker the Berry"
• Research Proposal # 51012 : "Biracial Children"

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