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ESSAY 2 LIT REVIEW NOTES

TOPIC

· What it means to be an American OR

· Difference and consciousness OR

· Racism and prospects for racial integration OR

· Some other topic you choose that you get pre-approved by me first but that has to connect to a central theme of these three readings

· [Can you think of an EXAMPLE of racial/cultural togetherness or disconnect or clash? That might be a good way to get started with thinking of something.]

Literature review: What the others have said on these topics

In this section you must provide one or two main claims that each philosopher we have read has made about the topic above:

A. Du Bois

One main question – fatigue with being asked what it feels like to be “a problem” [as a black person] – this piece and book is an attempt to answer that question [notices that the “problem” of race is located in black people erroneously – West is going to pick up this thread and expand it]

· Double-consciousness [MUST MENTION FOR ESSAY 2 – it’s such a key concept]:

· It represents HIS dual vision or "second-sight" 

· It includes his personal, individual view and his awareness of the social view (how others view him)

· It is connected to his sense of himself as black and wanting to reconcile this with his desire to be American -- the fact that "Americans" want to exclude him from full citizenship is part of the double-consciousness that he is NOT yet fully American

· [Dr. B note: Du Bois does view black people as separate from “Americans” but note that this is pre Voting Rights Act of 1965 and Civil Rights Act of 1964, just post Civil War, and during segregation and Jim Crow, pre-Brown vs. Board of Education]

End goal of spiritual striving of black people according to Du Bois:

· "This, then, is the end of his striving: to be a co-worker in the kingdom of culture, to escape both death and isolation, to husband and use his best powers and his latent genius." (p. 3)

· Note that he doesn't think black and white culture should be equalized in the sense of blending but should instead share and complement each other (that is the significance of saying the world races "should each give to each those characteristics both so sadly lack." (p.7)

· The brotherhood and conformity he wants is to the ideals of the American republic. [This could connect to West’s idea of a common history]

· To do this is going to require more education, voting rights, freedom, striving, opportunity, etc. (pp. 6-7 of reading). [This could connect to Cornel West’s idea that an expansion of the public sphere might be needed for maximal achievement]

· Burdens: Poverty, prejudice, disadvantages both economic and social due to the ravages of slavery (including the stain left on the black family by the "systematic legal defilement" of their women over centuries (see bottom of p. 5). [Question for class: Where is he locating “the problem”?]

B. West

[See Dr. B’s class notes sheet in Isidore]

Key points:

· How liberals and conservatives BOTH get questions of race wrong

· How the “problem” of race is falsely located in black people rather than in society as a whole

· The problem of America viewing itself as multi-cultural and racial

· Symptoms of all the economic and social problems can be seen in 1992 LA riots

· Example is one where race is the visible catalyst not the cause

· An expression of “justified social rage”

· Solutions to the problems above:

· Large-scale social/political/government interventions that create jobs, housing, health care, education, etc.

· See common humanity on all of us

· Draw on our common history – white and black

· This is NOT to say that we are all the same or to not acknowledge our differences [*BE CAREFUL: He doesn’t acknowledge as MUCH difference as Anzaldua in asking for a common history but this is NOT the same thing as saying we’re all the same – common humanity isn’t the same as saying we’re identical overall. This IS the point where you might connect his work with Anzaldua]

C. Anzaldúa [do NOT just use Cantú and Hurtado for your Anzaldúa section – you must say something here that is directly from her section of text]

[See Dr. B’s class notes sheet in Isidore]

· Mestiza consciousness and identity is multi-consciousness – more than double

· Process of mestiza consciousness development

· Choque (collision), counterstance, flexibility, transcendence, acceptance/tolerance

· What she asks of white people in terms of coming to terms with the history of oppression and colonization

· How she treats difference of identity – not just of culture and race but all kinds of identity – even sexual orientation

It is strongly recommended that each section be one paragraph of at least 3 sentences and that you make a connection to the precise text with an in-text citation in each section, along with a summary after that of what was said in your own words that ties it back into your thesis.

Using outside sources is discouraged, unless it is strictly supplemental and not in place of the three main readings above.

In-text citations are to be like this: (West, p. __), (Du Bois, pp. __-___)[if a page range], or (Anzaldúa, p. ___), or (Cantú and Hurtado, p. __).

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