Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Melanctha and Superiority

'"No, I ain't no common nigger," said Rose Johnson, "for I was raised by white folks, and Melanctha she is so bright and learned so much in school, she ain't no common nigger either, though she ain't got no husband to be married to like I am to Sam Johnson."

I found this specific statement to be so interesting in this passage. For starters, it basically seems like she is stating that white people are superior to black people. She states that Melanctha is bright and learned a lot in school, which in turn made her to be more than the "common nigger" as stated in the reading. This phrase is repeated many other times throughout the story as well. Rose also states that she is different, as she was raised by white people. This statement seemed to me that she was implying she was above the average black person, as she was raised by whites and aquired some of their habits. Marriage also stands out in this statement as being an element of superiority, as she almost looks down on Melanctha for not having a husband. The word choice in this story surprised me, and I feel like it may have been out of its element for the time period it was in, as it used many words that are deemed as inappropriate and a lot of phrasing that was not very common.

1 comment:

Kaytlin Moore said...

I noticed this as well, and I felt like I was confused if the author was a racist based primarily on the language they used to describe black people. I realize that this language was probably used purposely, but at the same, it was a little excessive. I felt like white people were described in a light that portrayed them as compassionate, loving, financially generous and intelligent. There also seems to be this emphasis on Rose being, "childish". It's ironic, however, that Rose is so stereotypical even though she was raised by white people. It was like evidence that no matter what her upbringing, her calling as an African American would bring her back to people she could relate to and under an umbrella of descriptors that was less than forgiving.

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