I was fascinated by McKay's lexicon of skin-tone.
"chocolate-brown" pg8
"walnut-brown" pg 8
"brown" pg 8
"chestnut" pg 11
"dark-brown" pg 20
"golden-browns" pg 29
"coffee-colored" pg 31
"putty-skinned" pg 33
"potato-yellow" pg 33
"dull-black" pg 33
"maroon-brown" pg 41
"copper-hued" pg 50
"cocoa-brown" pg 50
"crust-yellow" pg. 55
"yellow-skinned" pg. 56
"spade" pg. 56
"chocolate-to-the-bone" pg. 56
"low-brown" pg. 57
"high-brown" pg. 57
"nut-brown" pg. 57
"lemon" pg. 57
"maroon" pg. 57
"olive" pg. 57
"mauve" pg. 57
"gold" pg. 57
"almost-white" pg. 57
"black"
Aside from the neutral tones, all the other colors seem to be important descriptors as well. For example, when describing the "blues" music: "Red moods, black moods, golden moods" (pg 54).
When I was a kid, I lived in a predominantly black neighborhood. I would hesitate to say describe people as "black," because I was a very literal-minded child. I was positive that I had never seen a BLACK person. Some people are brown, and others are darker brown.
I had the same difficulty using the term "white" freely, as well. Was I to say that I am "only half-white"? Or, maybe to anyone darker than I, I was considered "white"? Why weren't "white" people called "various-hues-of-pink"?
BAND-AID Brand Adhesive Bandages Shopping List
This link will take you to Band-Aid's website, where they have a list of all their products. With the exception of the specialty cartoon character bandages, and the clear ones, all the others are a beige-tan color. Is BAND-AID attempting to match skin? Personally, I don't care if a bandage doesn't blend with my skin-tone. I think it's silly to try...but I'm one who would go for a band-aids with a fun, unicorn print. However, for practicality, fabric bandages tend to adhere the best because they form to the body, and fold easily.
From Ebon-Aide (ADHESIVE BANDAGES for PEOPLE OF COLOR):
What is Institutional Racism?
From page 57:
"Yellow balancing between black and white. Black reaching out beyond yellow. Almost-white on the brink of a change. Sucked back down into the current of black by the terribly sweet rhythm of black blood...."
This passage brings me back to the video clip shown in class of Henry Louis Gates' special, Genealogy and African American History. Some of the people on the show assumed that because they were classified as "black," their ancestors must have been from Africa, and were surprised to discover a variety of heritages.
I think the terms "black" and "white" came into play when slavery and the racial divide were created. Like superstions, the hue black is a sign of evil or just bad things in general. Some slave owners associated the color black with "brown" colored people in order to control them and show them that the way they were accustomed to living wasn't the "right" way.Plus, many of the Africans that came to America were very dark in skin complexion. White is associated with purity and good things and I suppose it was more common back then that people had tintless skin complexions, so they were considered "white" people.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel, I was very struck by how Claude McKay emphasizes the many different shades throughout one race. These different shades notably indicate the variety within the African American culture that popped during this era. However, at the same time, Jake as well as many of the other characters frequently group the whole race together. It's almost a struggle within the individual between race identification as well as individuality. During Ray's stream of consciousness as a result of lack of sleep, he thinks, "These men claimed kinship with him. They were black like him. Man and nature had put them in the same race. He ought to love them and feel them (if they felt anything). He ought to if he had a shred of social morality in him. They were all chain-ganged together and he was counted as one link. Yet he loathed every soul in that great barrack-room, except Jake" (153). In this one passage, Ray both generalizes the race yet also sets Jake apart, thus depicting the ever present struggle.
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