Racism and Prejudice in Angelou, Hurston, and Staples

Introduction: Personal Anecdote and the Argument Against Prejudice

Personal anecdotes related to the experience of prejudice are usually the most effective means of convincing an audience that prejudice exists and that it is painful. Moreover, an effective author connects the issue of prejudice to broader issues that all readers can relate to, regardless of their personal experiences. It is therefore important to show how society as a whole suffers from prejudice. African-American authors are in the position of sharing personal anecdotes about prejudice from within the framework of what is supposed to be a free, open, and tolerant society. Because of the paradoxes in American society, prejudice seems all the more terrible and ironic. Maya Angelou, Zora Neale Hurston, and Brent Staples are all African-American writers who offer convincing arguments about prejudice.

Maya Angelou's 'Graduation' and Institutionalized Racism

Maya Angelou's autobiographical essay entitled "Graduation" is about her high school graduation at a segregated public school in Arkansas. Angelou's story is like that of other black students in her generation. In "Graduation," Angelou describes the excitement of the big day. There was a great deal of "anticipation" about the upcoming ceremony, as the students would cease to be children and become young adults (22). Angelou mentions early on in the essay that "unlike the white school, Lafayette County Training School distinguished itself by having neither lawn, nor hedges, nor tennis court, nor climbing ivy" (23). Mentioning ivy underscores the fact that Angelou is about to discuss the reasons for academic achievement disparities in American society. Black students do not have as many opportunities to attend Ivy League colleges, as Angelou's narrative makes clear.

The valedictorian of the class, along with Angelou herself — who ranked second — had to listen to a group of white men deliver a speech at the graduation explaining why black students were only suited to be athletes. As Angelou puts it, "the white kids were going to have a chance to become Galileos and Madame Curies and Edisons and Gauguins, and our boys (the girls weren't even in on it) would try to be Jesse Owenses and Joe Lousies" (29). The white men came to Lafayette County Training School to deliver a cruel message: that the black school children would amount to nothing more than their white overlords would allow them to be. The white school already had tennis courts and trees, while the black school had nothing and would continue to have nothing.

Angelou's autobiographical account is poignant because she relies on personal anecdote that links to broader social issues like school segregation and institutionalized racism. The government, represented by the two white men who came to speak at the graduation, not only permits prejudice — it actively causes it. The black students in the graduating class hung their heads low, until the valedictorian led the school in the "Negro National Anthem" and a spiritual song that uplifted Angelou's soul. The prejudice the students felt when the white men were present was erased by the pride of being black.

Zora Neale Hurston and the Construction of Racial Identity

In "How It Feels to Be Colored Me," Zora Neale Hurston delivers a similar message of spiritual redemption in the face of prejudice. Like Angelou, Hurston uses personal anecdote to convey a universal message about what it means to be subjugated in society. The use of personal anecdote is rhetorically convincing because of ethos — that quality which testifies to the character and credibility of the writer. In each of these cases, all three African-American writers are established in academia and function as credible sources. Even if their accounts were fictionalized, readers would immediately recognize that prejudice exists in America given the widespread nature of racism in society. The arguments are more compelling, however, because they are grounded in the true stories and experiences of the authors.

Hurston states, with irony, "I remember the very day that I became colored." The reader might wonder what Hurston, an African-American woman, means by this statement. Hurston suggests that the personal identity and self-perception of a child are shaped by society — that society projects certain qualities onto children. Society tells girls, for instance, that they are delicate and weak. In Hurston's case, society eventually told her that she was "colored." Hurston grew up in an all-black small town she calls a "Negro town" in Eatonville, Florida. Like Angelou, her formative experiences were in the American South.

Just as Angelou writes about the experience of attending an all-black school — an identity that is cohesive and not defined in relation to dominant white culture — Hurston also discusses what it is like before that external gaze intrudes. Before the white men arrive at her school, Maya Angelou is happy, and so are all the other children. They are not perceived as "colored" at that moment. They know they are black, but they are not measuring themselves against whiteness. Likewise, Zora Neale Hurston only feels "black" when she goes to Jacksonville and sees herself through the eyes of white people there: "I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background."

Hurston's experience of prejudice and her manner of addressing it differ from Angelou's, yet both are equally convincing in their arguments. Hurston states: "Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It's beyond me." Her self-confidence radiates off the page, as does Angelou's, whose essay also concludes on a lofty note. Prejudice is a product of racism in society, but one can also choose how to respond. Both authors convince the reader that no amount of prejudice can break the soul of a people. The central message throughout African-American literature is empowerment — the importance of developing pride in one's ethnic and cultural background and refusing to be defined by others' perceptions. Pride is a central theme across all three essays. Each author argues that prejudice is wrong, but that personal power and self-confidence help a person overcome society's negativity.

Conclusion: Empowerment, Writing, and Social Change

The best way to understand prejudice is to learn from personal experiences, as these three essays show. However, it is also essential to bridge the personal with the political. Without a political application, the stories of three individuals remain meaningful only as private testimonies. They become truly significant insofar as they make a broader statement about American society, or reach out to the reader to encourage self-awareness. Readers of Angelou, Hurston, and Staples will understand instantly that prejudice is a problem — even if those readers have never personally experienced it.

Works Cited

Angelou, Maya. "Graduation." Occasions for Writing: Evidence, Idea, Essay. DiYanni, Robert, and Pat C. Hoy. Boston, MA: Thomson Heinle, 2008. 335–342.

Hurston, Zora. "How It Feels to Be Colored Me." Occasions for Writing: Evidence, Idea, Essay. DiYanni, Robert, and Pat C. Hoy. Boston, MA: Thomson Heinle, 2008. 159–161.

Staples, Brent. "Just Walk on By." Occasions for Writing: Evidence, Idea, Essay. DiYanni, Robert, and Pat C. Hoy. Boston, MA: Thomson Heinle, 2008. 153–155.