African-American Essay

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Brent Staples and Jamaica Kinkaid have written seminal short stories, contained in anthologies of American and African-American literature. Although Kinkaid's "Girl" and Staples's "Just Walk on By" were published about twenty years apart, they share in common themes related to racism and the experience of being black in the United States. Kinkaid and Staples both address the intersection of gender and race, with Kinkaid focusing on the role expectations of women in black society and Staples concentrating on the perception of black males by the dominant white culture. Both Staples and Kinkaid imbue their writing with emotional intensity, not shying from anger, but rather, transforming powerful feelings of frustration into points of liberation.

In "Just Walk on By," the narrator describes his experience as a night walker, someone who enjoys taking long walks at night in the city. What would typically be considered a normal activity takes on tremendous political importance for black men. Staples points out that the people on the streets, particularly whites, would run across the street or cower in his presence. Staples comically calls the pedestrians his "victims," revealing a dark sense of humor and making fun of the fact that being a black man makes him appear a criminal. In "Girl," Kinkaid writes a stream of consciousness litany of advice given from mother to daughter. The mother warns the daughter to behave in socially sanctioned and socially acceptable ways, lest she be perceived of as a "slut" or insubordinate.

The two stories use dramatically different literary styles, techniques, and methods of storytelling to achieve their respective goals. "Girl" uses an unusual rhetorical methodology combining stream of consciousness and potent imagery. Kinkaid writes what is essentially one run-on sentence serving as a monologue of proscriptions and admonishments from mother to daughter. The litany of orders highlights the generational differences between mother and daughter, but mainly Kinkaid shows how race impacts gender identity and roles in American society. "This is how you smile to someone you like completely, this is how you set a table for tea," (Kinkaid). Whereas "Girl" uses second-person narration -- highly unusual in prose -- Staples uses first person narration. In "Just Walk on By," the narrator describes his sociology experiments as a black man who notices that his mere presence on the street makes whites, and especially white women, uneasy. Although he does not use a series of "should," and parental admonishments, Staples does comment on social norms governing the behavior of people of color.

Therefore, both Kinkaid and Staples elucidate commonly held beliefs of how people are "supposed" to act in the dominant culture. Rather than being able to assert their own identities through their own presence and behavior, the titular girl in "Girl" and the narrator of "Just Walk on By" find themselves constrained by societal norms and constraints. Both find that blacks are uniquely confined to a narrow social domain, and that domain is stripped of political power. The man in "Just Walk on By" cannot walk down the street without being perceived of as a social menace, and the girl in "Girl" cannot even dress herself or smile on her own. The mother suggests that the girl's role is subordinate and subservient, a position of servitude to all others and especially to men. The mother goes so far as to say, "This is how a man bullies you," (Kinkaid 1). The man in "Just Walk on By" reaches a similar conclusion by noting the "rage I felt at so often being taken for a criminal…black men trade tales like this all the time," (Staples 4).

While the narrator of "Just Walk on By" does not address the social standards expected of black women, he does express his distaste of the social stigmas placed on black men. The narrator of "Just Walk on By" finds that just by walking down the street, he is perceived of as "dangerous," which is a "hazard in itself," (p. 1). The narrator cleverly inverts his position in society from one of social subordination to one of power. He figures out that by whistling music perceived of as safe because it is within the province of upper class whites, the "melodies from Beethoven and Vivaldi and the more popular classical composers," he can evade suspicion and avoid confrontations with the police. As long as he acts white, and comports himself in ways acceptable to the white community, the narrator is safe from their scorn. At the same time, the narrator also recognizes the power and potency in his presence, and uses it to his favor because he knows he has the power to scare people.

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Both the narrator of "Just Walk on By" and "Girl" have to navigate the tricky position between their own self-empowerment and the expectations placed upon them by the dominant culture. The girl in Kinkaid's story contends with a mother from the older and more submissive generation. In recounting her mother's advice, the girl shows that the only reason her mother tells her how to behave is because of racism and gender norms. "But what if the baker won't let me feel the bread?" she asks her mother, who responds, "You mean to say that after all, you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won't let near the bread?" (1).

Anger permeates the writings of both Kinkaid and Staples. Both indicate a rage that suppressed. The girl feels a "sense of betrayal" as her mother speaks (Simmons 466). However, Staples comes right out and states, "I learned to smother the rage I felt at so often being taken for a criminal," (4). Kinkaid's girl does not get but a few words in during her mother's diatribe, more subtly and tacitly indicating the suppression of her voice and her rage. In "Girl," the allows her anger to seep through her words by self-censoring her own voice. Remaining silent, allowing her overbearing mother to speak, is the epitome of repressed rage. Staples more directly and overtly acknowledges his suppressed rage and communicates it with his readers through conscientious discourse. In both cases, anger becomes a critical element of the short stories.

Whereas the girl in Kinkaid's story never lets her audience know what her goals or desires are, Staples' narrator does provide some insight into what he would like to see changed. Staples describes himself as an "avid night walker," a practice he endeavors to continue after moving from Chicago to New York. Yet the public arena is racially charged and racially segregated. Whereas a white man might be able to walk at night without arousing suspicion or terror, a black man does not have that privilege. The narrator has a right to walk at night; this he knows. Staples also knows that when he does walk at night, others react to him as if he is a threat. He describes the body language of those he encounters, both men and women, as being a "hunch" posture. The defensive behavior of whites in his presence gives Staples pause. Staples analyses the situation from a sociological perspective and discusses the sense of "alienation" he and other black men feel and experience in their own country (Staples 2). Kinkaid does not provide a meta-analysis of her narrator's experiences with sexism and racism. The reader is responsible for inferring the alienation and frustration felt by black women.

Gender is therefore the primary difference between Kinkaid and Staples. Staples' male perspective differs significantly from Kinkaid's female one. The female, even the black female, does not invoke fear as the black male does. To be feared is to have a certain type of power, which Staples comes to realize as a black man whose behavior influences the feelings, perceptions, human behaviors, and realities around him. Females, on the other hand, are socialized to be dependent as well as subservient. The girl is told how to wash clothes, set tables, and accomplish other domestic chores because her role is confined to the domestic sphere. Her mother tells her how to smile and behave in front of strangers, because women presumably do not have the power to determine even their own facial expressions.

In spite of these differences, both Staples and Kinkaid advocate self-empowerment. Kinkaid makes social commentary that critiques black women's complicity in their own subordination, urging readers to recognize how they have been socialized into gender and social roles. It is presumed that many of her readers will have experienced similar lectures from their mothers. Kinkaid's audience is both those who can relate to the girl, and those who had no idea how incessant the messages are for women, and especially women of color. Being told constantly how to behave in order to be perceived of as "good" girls, women have not determined their own social norms. It is time for women to reclaim their power by shifting their relationship with the world. Likewise, Staples writes for an audience that is at once familiar with the scenarios he describes,….....

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