The ugly little monster that always shows its
Face – Racism

It is no surprise that racism is still pretty prevelent in our society today. Everyone has a racist thought every now and again and some people are open with their racism. I’m positive you can think of one racist joke about every race. It is one of those problems in the world that will never get fixed, or a problem we might not be around to see get fixed. It surely isn’t as bad as it was about a century ago, but we do have more work to do. The other day a white head coach Phil Jackson was referring to an incident with basketball player Lebron James. He recalled that lebron wanted to break a set in stone rule and go hangout with his “posse”. The use of that word sparked an outrage and people were calling for Phil Jackson to apologize. Lebron James is the best basketball player in the world and has always carried himself professionally on and off the court. He found it very disrespectful that Phil Jackson would refer to his people as a posse. Lebron views the action as racist, since he believes Phil would not have used the word posse had he not been black. In other words Lebron is calling Phil a racist for his choice of words. I do agree with Lebron about Phil probably not using that word if he was white, but I can’t speak on the racism since Phil Jackson has not shown himself to be that way. Was posse the best word he could of chosen? What made him choose that word? Could it be envy? We may never know. This reminds me of a quote from Age, Race, Class and sex, it says ” Certainly there are very real differences between us of age, race and sex. But it is those differences between us that are separating us. It is rather our refusal to recognize those differences, and to examine the distortions which result from our misnaming them and their effects upon human behavior and expectation”.

In Americanah Ifemelu first time with Obinze was definitely unique. Ifemelu was in love with him and she had clearly pictured her first time being special, she wanted to treat it like a special ceremony. What she got ended up being a little different. Her sexual experience came after she gave Obinze a massage. You can tell it was not how she expected when she said ” It felt, to Ifemelu, like a weak copy, a floundering imitation of what she had imagined it would be”.(chapter 7). In her mind the sex was supposed to be a amazing planned experience she would share with Obinze mom. A week after the sex Ifemelu started to feel pain in her lower area and she was also vomiting. In her mind she was pregnant, but it turns out she just had to get her appendix removed. Her first sexual experience could be related to Esther from The Bell Jar. Her first time was also a rare case. She didn’t seem to enjoy it much either and after the sex she began to hemmorage heavily and had to go to the hospital. Both girls seem to be secure in there sexuality, only attracted to the opposite race. Esther seems to play a bigger role in her sexual experience than Ifemelu does. To Esther only a certain type of guy could take her virginity, but to Ifemelu she already had it set in her mind Obinze would be the guy she sleeps with. Neither of the two girls speaks much on their first sexual experience after it is done. This tells ,e that it most likely wasn’t an enjoyable time and they are not in a rush to do it again. Both girls didn’t seem too worried about the consequences sex can have. Esther had a diaphragm so she wouldn’t get pregnant which says she though her first time through thoroughly. Ifemelu on the other hand let Obinze use the pull out method and didn’t seem to care if she had gotten pregnant. Obinze said “But Ifem were going to get married anyway”. So Obinze was perfectly fine if he had gotten her pregnant. Although she didn’t seem to care for the consequences she does get upset with Obinze when she thinks she is pregnant.

The character I chose to write about is Celie. Celie is the main character of The Color Purple. We learn that Celie is living a very rough life. She is a black girl growing up in the 1930’s. Her father made her leave school even though she liked it, so Celie is not the smartest. Her younger sister seems to be smarter than her. Celie is 20 years old and has already suffered in life; she was raped by her father and she disliked the man she married. Her father made her give up both of the babies she had. Celie is a black woman and she appears to be poor. She has caring qualities that make her a good wife to a man. Celie is described by Mr as being ugly, Mr clearly wants Celie sister Nettie. Celie is shown to be very unhappy with Mr. He does not treat her right and he is cheating on her. Celie only wanted to marry Mr because he wanted to keep her away from her sister. Celie says in the book that she thinks all the men that she sees look alike. She did not appear to care for men much, she said she was scared of them. This could be due to her being raped by her father. Celie did she was more attracted to females, since she didn’t fear them. That is how she becomes infatuated with Shug Avery. Celie thinks she is the most beautiful person she has ever seen. Knowing how Celie lives helps us understand the pain she is going through. We feel connected to the violence and sex she has to endure through the book. Since we know her struggles we feel a sense of accomplishment when she finally stands up to Mr.

Paragraph 1- Introduction
In my introduction I will give the reader an idea of what happened in the book. I will most likely just give the reader a brief summary of the more important events without giving away any crucial details. The introduction is also where I will introduce my thesis statement that I will prove through my body paragraphs. The thesis statement will be the driving force for my entire essay.

Paragraph 2 – First body paragraph
In this paragraph I will use my first example that I got from the book to support my thesis. I will state the quote and where I found it. I will then explain how my quote ties into my thesis. My quote will also explain what concept from our classes that I will incorporate in my essay.

Paragraph 3 – Second body paragraph
In this paragraph I will use my second example from the text to support my thesis. Once again I will state the quote and put where I found it. I will then explain how this example ties into the thesis. The quote I give here will also incorporate the concept that I chose from my first body paragraph.

Paragraph 4 – Third body paragraph
In this paragraph I will discuss the concepts that I chose from one of our secondary readings. The concept that I choose will only help strengthen my thesis statement. If possible I will try to pick two of the readings.

Paragraph 5 – Conclusion
For the conclusion I will state my closing arguments and make sure that I reiterate my main points.

Hello all my name is Mario hall. As far as preferred pronouns they would be he and they. I’m current.y living in east Flatbush and I have lived around this area for most of my life. Though I was born here most of my family is Jamaican. My major is computer engineering technology. I see myself as some one who is really big on technology and I enjoy learning new technological things. After I get my diploma I would like to get some different certifications and use them to become an it guy or a computer technician. One interesting thing about me is I once had a one on one game with deron Williams at tillary park.

The character I chose to write about was Jay Cee. Jay Cee was the boss of Esther and the other girls down at ladies day. Esther described her as being “ugly as sin”. Jay Cee was clearly not as fashionable as the other girls. This didn’t really matter since Jay Cee was very smart. Jay Cee seems to be very caring and has her own way of doing things. An example is when she called Esther into her office and was questioning her about future plans. It’s obvious that she only wants the best for Esther and wants to see her accel. Though she may come off as unkind in her attempts to show this. Being someone who was smart it’s clear to see that Jay Cee valued intelligence in others. She did know many famous poets. Esther said that she really likes Jay Cee. She thinks that Jay Cee only wants to teach her a thing or two. In my eyes Jay Cee seems to be the perfect role model for a girl. She has the intelligence and seems to be very successful at what she does. It was her knowledge that got her this far in life. I think that all the girls should strive to be like Jay Cee, though they should definitely add their own flair to it. The path that Jay Cee took may not be for everyone, but you can not argue with her results. I believe that it is women like Jay Cee that do very well in the world we live in today.