People Are Red Over The Color Purple

This morning while I was on the computer checking my email, I stumbled across an article listing 10 banned books that you might not expect. One of the books listed was The Color Purple by Alice Walker. The book focuses on an African American female living the the south during the 1930's, and tells mainly about her struggles as a lower class black citizen living in the south during that time. 


I thought that this tied in well with what we were discussing in American Studies this week.  We were discussing President Obama's "A More Perfect Union" speech, and how he declares that "so many of the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation." This got me questioning, why was the book The Color Purple banned? The article states that it was because of issues of race and abuse, but I believe that the problem can be traced deeper than that. Was the book banned because America is still racist today? Or perhaps it was banned because of feelings of guilt. Feelings that there are still disparities between the black and white population today, and the white population feels that they have to ban, or bury any evidence that these disparities still exist. Many would argue that there are no such disparities in the country today, however, I personally believe that this is not the case. When you look around, one can find that there are still dividing lines between African American and white people, in terms of education, social status etc. Why these dividing lines exist is hard to say, but I think that it brings up a good question: Why do disparities between African American and white people still exist today?

1989-2010. AFter Nineteen Years in Office, Daley Retires

After a record of nineteen years in office, Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley announced on Tuesday, September 7th, that he will not be running for re-election next fall. As Daley put it " "I've done my best. Now, I'm ready with my family to begin the new phase of our lives" (http://cbs2chicago.com/local/mayor.daley.retirement.2.1900359.html) While Daley clearly seems to be ready to retire, many people, certainly those of my generation who have not known another mayor, are worried about what will come next.

Having grown up in Chicago almost my entire life, I have not known a mayor other than Daley, which is why it certainly comes as a bit of a shock that he will not be returning to office. It is safe to say that I, and most likely many others, are worried about the future mayor of Chicago, and what he or she will have in store. However, I believe that this is because I have a biased opinion of Mayor Daley. Last week in American Studies, we were discussing how information in textbooks and many other pieces of work differ because of author's biased opinions, and I believe that this idea is coming into play now. Many people are saying that his retirement is a good thing, but many others, such as myself, are concerned.  Perhaps if there had been a number of different mayors in Chicago throughout my lifetime, I would not be so worried about Daley retiring and having a new mayor step into office. However, I feel that Daley did such a good job, with huge achievements such as Millenium Park, that the next mayor will not live up to such high expectations.

Clearly, not everyone has the same opinion as I do. Many are excited for Chicago to have a fresh start, and are looking forward to seeing some changes. Especially those who have lived long enough to have known other mayors than Daley, and perhaps do not have such a biased opinion. And although it concerns me to see Daley retire, it will be interesting to see what the future of Chicago holds. 

Redemptive Arc: Story of my Life.

Last week in American Studies, we were discussing Kurt Vonnegut's idea of the Redemptive Arc. He stated that in every story, there is a common theme, or outline. It starts out with your protagonist, living a relatively happy life. Then, he, or she is faced with some terrible misfortune,  but after all the struggles and sadness, they somehow pull through, and end up happier than they ever were before. For example, consider Harry Potter. At the beginning, his life wasn't too bad. Sure, he lived under the stairs, but he was still well fed, clothed, and had people to look out for him. But once he got accepted into Hogwarts, it all started going downhill. He had several near death experiences, the most powerful dark lord of all time was after him, and he was only eleven. Seems like he most definitely experienced some misfortune. However, at the end of the story, even he was able to come out on top, and he was able to experience true happiness.

Now, I completely agreed with Vonnegut's idea that this occurs in many stories, but I did not think that it could apply to real life at all. But then I got to thinking, my life, and most likely many others, certainly follows that path.

I (the protagonist of my life) started out with good fortune. I was born into an upper middle class family, I lived on the North Shore, clearly things were going my way. But I, like most people as well, have been faced with many challenges and struggles in my life. Now these misfortunes may not have been as severe as others. For example, I was not trying to fight off a dark lord at the mere age of eleven, but they were still misfortunes. Maybe I got a bad grade on a test, or maybe my family was going through hard times. However, these misfortunes have only made me stronger, and I have learned from them every time.

The Redemptive Arc is not just for stories, it clearly applied to many events in my life as well. Does everybody's life follow that path? Probably not. But it is definitely worth thinking about.

Nerf gun enthusiast? I don't think so.

In a consumer driven world such as ours, it seems to me that people are no longer judged by their personalities, but rather by their belongings. We know that someone is successful based off the fact that they have the new iPhone, or a brand new sports car, rather than actually talking to them and learning about them. And it got me thinking, if I were to disappear tomorrow, would my belongings be an accurate reflection of who I am?

Looking around my room, I see a few things that stand out to me. A pile of sheet music, scattered across the floor, a Nerf gun, a cell phone, and a backpack stuffed with school supplies. But if someone were to glance at these items, would they be able to truly understand me? Is it possible for someone to look at one's belongings, and instantly know everything about them? No. This idea ties into what we were learning this week in American Studies, and the problem that historians are faced with every day. Anyone could glance around my room and easily draw the conclusion that I am a Nerf gun enthusiast, with a passion for writing songs, but they would be dead wrong.  It is almost impossible to know everything about a person based on artifacts that they left behind, therefore it is so important to continue to collaborate and corroborate with others to make sure that you are getting correct information. For example, if one were to look around Tiger Wood's house, they would probably guess that he was a fantastic golfer, based on hundreds of golf clubs and trophies. But without further research, they would have no way of knowing about his many affairs and scandals, therefore their information about him would be inaccurate.

 There is no way one could know everything about me by simply looking around my room. There is not one object that sums up my entire life. In my opinion, one must rely on more than just their belongings in order to truly get to know a person.