African-American Studies

1. I feel that I am led by the same impulse which forces the un-found-out criminal to take somebody into his confidence, although he knows that the act is likely, even almost certain, to lead to his undoing.  I know that I am playing with fire The passage is found in James Weldons The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. p.g 5. It describes the state of mind of the character regarding a certain crime that he committed. It shows the doubt and confusion in his mind.

2. It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at ones self through the eyes of others, of measuring ones soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. The passage is found in DuBois The Souls of Black Folk p.g 12. The statement shows the contempt in a young mans soul it portrays the hate he feels for being perceived as different by the society around him.

3. Nother thing.  Ah hates tuh see folks lak me and you mixed up wid em. Us oughta class off. The statement has been derived from the book Their Eyes were Watching God by Hurston and Pinkney p.g. 169. It depicts the hate of a colored woman towards the black race. The woman dislikes the color saying that she has class unlike the black folk.

4. I am an ordinarily successful white man who has made a little money.  They are men who are making history and a race.  I, too, might have taken part in a work so glorious. The passage is from The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man p.g 93 by James Weldon. The statement depicts a choice made by the character the choice made is some what less compared to what he might have chosen that other men chose. Though it is a good choice, the character wishes he had more.

5. The songs are indeed the siftings of centuries the music is far more ancient than the words, and in it we can trace here and there signs of development. The statement is found on page 164 of DuBois The Souls of Black Folk. The passage shows the importance of music to the black folk the songs they sung showed their despair, sorrow and pain experienced over time. In their music one could see their souls, it was moving.

6. So this was a marriage  She had been summoned to behold a revelation.  Then she felt a pain remorseless sweet that left her limp and languid. Extracted from Hurston  Pinkneys Their Eyes were Watching God p.g. 15. The statement depicts a young womans understanding of life and the mysteries of life all around her. It shows the revelation of something of importance to this character.

7. And neither world thought the other worlds thought, save with a vague unrest. Extracted form DuBois The Soul of Black Folk, p.g. 151. The statement shows deep seated differences between two worlds, a black world and a white world. Both societies exist together but share different opinions about each other. It is this thought and opinions that the two worlds dont want to think about lest it affects their own thoughts and dreams of the future.

8. I believe it to be a fact that the colored people of this country know and understand the white people better than the white people know and understand them. The passage has been borrowed form James Weldons The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man p.g. 12. The statement shows us the mind of a colored man as he made his way through life he is considered neither black or white and therefore his thoughts are his own. The white man in particular found these coloreds hard to comprehend they often kept to themselves never divulging their thought for fear of being sidelined by either race.

9. The day of the gun, and the bloody body, and the courthouse came and commenced to sing a sobbing sigh out of every corner in the room out of each and every chair and thing. Commenced to sing, commenced to sob and sigh, singing and sobbing. The passage can be found on page 231 of Hurston and Pinkneys Their Eyes were Watching God. The passage depicts the thought of a young womans love. Either the husband or lover is gone. The process was painful and sad but she is determined to keep him alive in her thoughts he will always be around that way.

10. Would America have been America without her Negro people  The passage is from DuBois The Soul of Black Folk p.g. 170. A question that questions the existence of the great America if the BlackNegro failed to reach the America when they did, the negroblack people have definitely contributed a lot to the development of the nations as seen in the passage. But still the Negro is being persecuted and treated with disdain they are unappreciated.

Section II
I   
Janie is the daughter of a slave who abandoned her as a child she was consequently brought up with her grandmother Nanny. Nanny had great hopes for Janie and therefore when she came of age, Nanny arranged for her to be married to Logan Killicks a farmer looking for a wife as a helper in the farm. Janie on the other hand has a different idea of marriage this is depicted and shown when she describes her experience under the pear tree one summer, she saw the bees pollinating the pear tree and the experience to her was revealing. To her the tree shivered it supposed with the pleasure of love this natural process to her was how marriage should be a union between two people who are in love.
   
Consequently she eloped with Joe Starks to Eatonville a sleepy town with no ambition whatsoever. Starks consequently bought some land and using the locals build a store through which he ran a small business. This made him very popular his store front was the venue of many social contribution, many of which Janie was forbidden from participating. This did make Janie very happy Joe Starks wanted to use her image as the perfect wife to gain favor from the people who had elected him as mayor of the sleepy town. Joe Starks kept Janie as a trophy wife instead of a wife to love and cherish, from the book Starks must have been a very strict man. Janie consequently found herself in a situation that she could do little about and she hated it. Her experiences in life and her perceptions were completely contradicted she did not love Joe Starks but she believed in the sanctity of marriage and would not be found going against that union.
   
Joe Starks eventually made a name for himself and apparently a lot of money but all those did not stop the inevitable as Joe Starks eventually dies leaving Janie a fortune. She was alone again. She needed to find herself her true feeling and believes this to Janie was her ultimate goal it was the place she had longed to reach all her life ever since she experience the pear tree pollination, it was there. After turning down a lot of suitors she eventually fell for Tea Cakes Vergible Woods, after he played for a song over the harmonica. This signified a man who will adore her for her and always treat her right. Therefore Janie decides to sell of everything that she owned and move to Jacksonville with her new found love. They get married and start their lives together. The marriage is defined as one that had its own ups and downs but it was full of love Janie had found what she wanted in life she was finally there.
   
Their troubles seem to have no end. While in Jacksonville, the Okeechobee hurricane strike land and threatens everything within sight. Janie is trapped and Tea Cakes goes to her rescue which he managed but to a great harm he is bitten by a rabid dog and he gets infected. Despite all efforts to control the situation it gets worse and Woods tries to kill his wife Janie fortunately she beats him to the act and kills him using a rifle a tragic end to a great love. This shows that when it come down to it practicability come to the forefront. She had to choose between her life or the life of her husband who was rabid she chose hers because it was hers. She gets persecuted for this action and the town condemns her. The men support Tea Cakes and want her sentenced for defending herself the women support her for obvious reasons. Fortunately Janie gets acquitted and the whole town forgives her but she decides to move back to Eatonville and continue her life.

II   
Louise Armstrongs performance of Jazz you rascal you in the animation of Betty Boop is considered both astonishing and inspirational. To begin with the songs relation with the comicalanimation depiction has been considered as both weird and to an extent revolution. Weird because the song was being sung during the animation of the cartoon where the characters are running from African natives while Armstrongs head keeps appearing at various points and circumstances.  The performance was great as the song has been among the most appreciated pieces from the Jazz artist.
   
The animation depicts the thoughts of the aggravated man who took in another who was pretending to be his friend only for him to discover that he was wooing his wife behind his back. The character of Armstrong in the animation therefore appears in different situations to show that the friend has been cornered by Armstrong and is being forced to leave his wife alone and to leave and never come back better still the Armstrong character sings that he will be tickled to laughter if the friend died. The relevance of the song and Armstrong character in this situation is to show that one should not expect much out of a situation. It also tells us not to trust anybody because it is the same people who will end up betraying our trust therefore affecting our whole being.
   
The character of Armstrong is also used to show anger and disappointment it even shows a bit of regret Boy, I brought you into my home you wouldnt leave my wife alone Ill be glad when youre dead, you rascal, you. The character regrets why he even brought his friend into his house in the first place. They were friends and he trusted him to behave himself around his family only to discover that he was fooling around with his wife. The head keeps appearing therefore to show anger, disappointment and regret. In fact the head keeps bobbing to show all this emotions together.
   
The song can also be taken to depict the nature of the society at that time and age the title goes like Il be glad when you are dead you rascal you, it reads of anger and disappointment. The song then goes to describe a situation while an animationcartoon keeps performing as the song continues. The cartoon shows us the clear picture of a society that is distorted, by distorted I mean confused and infiltrated by everything that is wrong, it is a society where friends will sleep with their friends wives or spouses just because they can, a society that is mainly ruled by anger and desperation why else would some ones wife sleep with the husbands best friend if not to seek attention. The performance therefore questions the morals of the society at that particular point in time. It can also be described as the performers state of mind at that point in time his friend had betrayed his trust, he is a dog.
   
All in all it was a much appreciated performance that has been valued over time it portrayed a lot of emotions within a single performance.

The Black Panther Party was a left-wing organization founded in 1966 for the defense of African Americans (Katsiaficas, and Cleaver 3). It was founded in Oakland, California by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton and would go on to gain fame all over the United States for its deep commitment to defend the rights of the African American population as a minority group (Katsiaficas, and Cleaver 3). For the decade it lasted, the Black Panther Party was able to tackle one of the most pertinent issues of the time Racism. In this essay, I seek to explain the role the Black Panther Party, whose initial objective was to defend African Americans from police brutality, played in American society in the 1960s.
   
Black Panther Party began as a result of a prior history of activism where African American opinion leaders were pushing for equality and an end to racial prejudices and police brutality (Katsiaficas, and Cleaver 71). African Americans had for long demanded that authorities address the issues that were affecting them as a minority in the American society. The Black Panther Party the discipline and calmness preached by renown African American activist Malcolm X to become the heroes of the African American cause (Smethurst  21). The party symbolized self determination and pride, and initiated programs aimed at educating African Americans politically as an attempt to achieve a revolution in diction, the free spirit and commitment to the cause. It became a symbol of African American culture and even had an impact on fashion.
   
The Black Panther Party, through its Ten Point Program, was able to grasp the attention of the authorities and the American public about the issues that were affecting the African American community (Katsiaficas, and Cleaver 76). It gave an outcry about the oppression that was perpetuated against members of its target community and their lack of control in the political and social institutions that were meant to serve them. The party also petitioned the government and demanded it honors its obligation to provide employment or guarantee an income for all people (Katsiaficas, and Cleaver 76).
   
The other demands in the Ten Point program included a call to end economic exploitation of the African American and other minority communities and the honor of the promise for forty acres of land and a mule that had been made 100 years earlier as reparation for slavery (Jones 177). The party also demanded better housing to be made available in African American neighborhoods failure to which the land should be made cooperative land so that African Americans could build their own decent housing.
   
The Black Panther Party managed to petition authorities about the poor quality of educational infrastructure in African American neighborhoods as well as pushing the agenda for free healthcare for impoverished Americans (Jones 179). Police brutality was rampant in those days, targeting African American and Hispanic men. The Black Panther Party wanted an end to all this and through sensitizing the public, it helped create an awareness and knowledge of human rights which was later to become instrumental in later activism (Smethurst 26).
   
The Black Panther Party followed the ideals of Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong as he outlined them in his manual, The Little Red Book, to orchestrate economic and social awareness campaigns among African American people through what it called Survival Programs (Katsiaficas, and Cleaver 81). Through these programs, it fought drug abuse and rehabilitated drug addicts, organized free medical clinics and offered emergency response and ambulance services. In addition it founded the Inter-communal Youth Institute with Ericka Huggins as the director to demonstrate how African American youth must be educated so that they would be empowered politically and economically (Katsiaficas, and Cleaver 81). There were also other programs, most of which had an impact on live in areas where the party was operational.
   
The Black Panther Party had an impact on the political landscape during the time it existed. The party assumed the role of teaching African Americans their political rights and their guarantees as legal American citizens to basic human rights, individual freedoms and liberties (Jones 178). To be more effective, it briefly combined efforts with the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee which was headed by Stokely Carmichael who later renamed himself Kwame Ture in line with his Pan African ideals (Jones 178). This was just after it was founded. In the year 1967, the Black Panther Party organized a street march in which many African Americans were involved in a procession to the California State Capital to oppose a proposed directive to ban the carrying of loaded weapons to public places (Katsiaficas, and Cleaver 81)). The panthers (members of the party) had already begun exercising that right and on this procession they all carried rifles.
   
The Black Panther Party sought to empower African Americans politically and having garnered widespread support from African Americans and other sympathizers, its Minister of Information, Eldridge Cleaver ran for president in the 1968 presidential elections (Katsiaficas, and Cleaver 85). The party made a bigger impact than its opposite, the White Panther Party. Its biggest role was perhaps in the human rights movement. Even though the party lasted for only 14 years, it left a lasting impression on the struggle for rights and equality, and its ideals of community service are still present in many African American communities today.

Alighting from her limousine, she slowly glides into view, a caramel-colored goddess, amidst the bright, flashing lights of the enamored paparazzi. Dressed in a tight gown that accentuates her plentiful curves, she treads upon the red carpet, her every movement calling attention to her innate beauty high cheekbones, doe eyes, a button nose. She looks upon her ardent fans who file behind a metal fence and bestows upon them a knowing smile. They shriek in delight and attempt to reach her, but they are too far way. She is untouchable and exotic. She is their myth.

It is an indomitable fact that celebrities of contemporary times have achieved an iconic quality about them, almost mythic in every aspect. Created by incessant PR people and stylists, their very being is manipulated to illustrate an embodiment of perfection that hovers above mere masses. And at the very center of this shrewd business is the biracial woman, the neo-mulata. Neither simply white nor black, her multi-faceted lineage serves as a problem for those who mean to categorize her in the predisposed niches of the industry. Ingrid Sischy, in an interview with highly-successful, biracial songstress Mariah Carey, reveals that the singer found the lightness of her skin, attributed to her Caucasian mother, an issue when it comes to obtaining record deals.

One person at AR Records said I looked too white to sound the way I soundedyoure too light youre too black. I was this nebulous creature that nobody understood (Sischy 2007). Carey, who rose from the travails of her childhood and earlier attempts at stardom, is the perfect representation of the mulata in todays celebrity-ridden world and her story is a showcase of how she transcended such oppression and identity-crises to become one of the most well-known figures in the entertainment industry. But, is this success suggestive of societys reconciliation with her dual ethnicity Or are they merely regarded in another level of otherness wherein their exoticism and sensuality become their source of marketability and appeal With this query in mind, this paper hopes to engage in an understanding of the position of the mulata celebrity, following an historical analysis of the rise of the mulata and racial performativity, and how they transition from being the tragic mulata and into a figure of mythic otherness.

The Tragic Mulata and the Question of the Other
Our current society views itself as a multi-cultural hodgepodge of different ethnicities and belief systems that is generally accepting of each other. According to a historic survey conducted by the US Census (2000) wherein individuals are allowed to select more than one race, 6.8 million or 2.4 percent of Americans identify themselves with two or more races (Census 2000). We particularly observe this growing trend in popular media wherein personas, like Carey, and several others, like Halle Berry, Jessica Alba and Tiger Woods, are beginning to carve out their own accomplishments in a sphere with a distinct boundary between colors of skin. This phenomenon begins the start of a multiracial decade, as Asian-American Thomas Kelly (2009) declares, especially marked by the seating of the first biracial president.

This new era of cultural diversity in the United States begets changing insights of previously acknowledged racial ideologies that are characteristic of a supposedly forgotten societal code. But, it still happens that shifting views give birth or reawaken altered conceptions of the current society. Such example would be the notion of the mulato or mulata (which we will focus on later). Considered a concept forgotten with colonialism, it is a term used to indicate an individual of mixed-blood, a product of the miscegenation of a black woman and a white man (Arrizn 84). Technically, a Hispanic term that is associated to the racial structure of colonial Latin Americas, it is adapted in the United States soil to indicate a woman of such biracial attributes. Remarkably, this symbol of racial oppression has come to serve as a figure of antislavery movements and literature in 19th century America. According to Eve Allegra Raimon, embodying Northern and Southern ideologies, the amalgamated mulatto (to use the contemporaneous term can be viewed as quintessentially American, a precursor to contemporary motifs of hybrid and mestizo identities (Raimon 4).

The tragic mulatto functions as an allegory of the hardships of the slave community and as a vehicle to address these varied trepidations. Through this, Raimon says, abolitionist of both races can further contemplate and consider answers for matters such as the bestowment of freedom and independence to mixed-race slaves, a wholly integration into the general society, and the full acceptance of their ancestry in the increasingly precarious Union (4-5).

But to consider the plight of the tragic mulatto as the sole narrative of the anti-slavery movement is to disregard the unique experience of the tragic mulatta, whose gendered existence is an additional barricade in her pursuit of self identification. Raimon adds, The very tragedy of the figures fate lies upon her female gender (5). Hence, the predicament of the tragic mulatta remains on her sexual vulnerability, and her objectification as viewed through the eyes of her male colonizers.

Adding to our presupposition of the female as the Other, the mulattas biracial roots further her identity even more into the realm of the uncanny. Considered an anomaly, the biracial identity hovers between the preconditioned concept of Blacks or Whites, or the slave and the colonizer. As Arrizn mentions, the mulatas syncretic amalgamation represents a confluence of worlds and cultures. As product of transculturation, they mark serious hierarchic imbalances implicated in the invention of the new world (Arrizn 83). The current society now has to find a way to contend with this systemic imbalance, this unknown force, having been accustomed with centuries of a historically dualistic system. Instead of creating a dialogue with this unknown, the dominating White culture, instead, places the biracial in the level of object an enigma known but not conversed. This imbalance then, in addition to the crisis of gender, creates a two-fold issue which is central to the dilemma of the tragic mulatta. As Hiram Perez mentions in her analysis of the mulattodiva, Racial otherness compounded by feminization doubly disposes and exposes the mulatato the erotics of spectacle (Perez 117).

We also find the source of the tragic mulatta in the assessment of the history of colonization. According to Arrizn, the dynamics of the colonial societys judgment of inter-racial pairing (following the white male-black female rule), created a structure that saw black women as sexual objects for the white colonizer. And because her identity is, essentially, unclassifiable and unexplainable, she is considered a libertine and a wild woman, whose sexuality the white male wishes to govern (103). Her body is also a bastion of this unmitigated sensuality, derived upon a close analysis through racial performativity. Her body has been defined merely as an erotic symbol, embodying the African dance or the musical instrument that conducts the movement of her body (101).

Likening the body to the movement of the Latin dance Rumba, Arrizn says that the beat of her body determines her position as an object of irresistible attraction (98). The movement of her body emphasizes aspects of her physical being that is uniquely biracialhoney-colored skin, appropriate curves, a small faceall seeming mutations of the Western female ideal. Despite having exotic looks, she is enough white to be able to transcend any racial taboo while still teetering beyond the typical norm. In another study done by Frances Aparicio on salsa and its suggestive lyrics, she finds that those that elaborate on the mulatablack body and its overemphasized sexuality actually reveal racial oppression (99). With this in mind, some have even gone so far as to say that the mulata body is a symbol of prostitution (105).

Essentially, the tragedy of the mulatta is derivative from this base assumption of her role in the social structure. Because she is not completely black, she remains a favored woman of the white male, but since she is not also innately white the attraction remains in the realm of sexual fervor. She remains in the gray area where she is neither hated nor wanted. While she is sexually desired by white men, she also represents the racial impurities and threats to whiteness, embodying an unnatural transgression of the rules of social property (106). She becomes an Other in an excluded bracket of society. She is an Other devoid of racial inclinations.

From Tragedy to Triumph
In todays society, the concept of the tragic mulata is typically discussed amidst analysis of many literary texts concerning the anti-slave movements and remains now a mere symbol of what once was an era of great oppression. In film, especially, notions of the black woman as the tragic mulata have changed into a more positive perspective (Beltran 56). The biracial in film now represent the cultural diversity of the American people, an enigmatic emblem of a multiracial future. They now have new face, one of success and triumph, with past errors serving as background that bolster this new image.

One of these faces, as previously discussed, is multi-awarded singer Mariah Carey who traces her lineage to an African-American father and an Irish mother. Apart from Carey, there are also several other entertainment personas of multi-racial lineage that has achieved international renown, especially in this growing world of inter-cultural affiliations. One persona that has made a milestone in film history is award-winning actress Halle Berry, whose affecting performance in Marc Fosters Monsters Ball (2001), as a convicts widow who falls in love with her husbands white correctional officer in a racially-prejudiced community, won her the first ever Best Actress Academy Award for a person of African-American descent. But besides these tragic roles, she has also played a manipulative vixen, a gun-wielding secret agent, and a sensuous anti-hero in The Flintstones (1994), James Bond Die Another Day (2002), and Catwoman (2004), respectively.

She and Carey are in every way considered the epitome of modern celebrity. According to Graeme Turner in Understanding Celebrity, Fabricated on purpose to satisfy our exaggerated expectations of human greatness, says Daniel Boorstin, the celebrity develops their capacity for fame, not by achieving great things, but by differentiating their own personality form those of their competitors in the public arena (Turner 5).

In a society that finds biracial attributes a fascinating concept, and a concept that now represents an entire generation, it is easy to assume that the two personas mentioned acquire their success, not just through talent, but through the peoples intrinsic fascination of their unlikeliness, their racial ambiguity. In a study done by Mary Beltran on the new breed of multiracial actors entitled The New Hollywood Racelessnes Only the Fast, Furious (and Multiracial) will Survive, the racelessness of this new breed of actors reverberate with the current majority of ethnically diverse audiences that flock the cinemas (54). They see in these heroes the values and qualities imbibed on them by their varied cultural upbringings and they like it. For the producers and film executives, casting these actors ultimately fills the gap between a traditionalist cinema and its younger, more international viewers.

But, despite creating a positive perspective of the biracial on film, what I found most disconcerting about this analysis is its lacking of a feminist reading. Like the tragic mulata whose experience is wholly different from that of the conceived tragic mulatto, the new mulattas depiction on film (and, generally, in the entertainment industry) cannot be entirely equated to that of the male biracial because until now there still lies a pervasive view of the woman on screenon stage as objectified and highly sexualized. This harkens back to our analysis of the mulata body, her body and her sexuality remains her source of identity and without it she herself would remain anonymous. The modern biracial woman still uses her body as a tool for recognition, as we shall later explore. But, in order to differentiate herself from the historical notions of the tragic mulata, she is now created, through the wizardry of the showbiz machinery, into a figure of myth, an exotic beauty that, still, undoubtedly, revolve around the socially-excluded territory of the other.

Leaning towards racial anonymity could actually mean much strife for an individual of biracial ancestry. In an interview with Barbra Walters (2002), Berry admitted that she doesnt consider herself biracial because her mother had told her to identify herself as black because she would be looked upon as black. In order to lessen the tension related to being biracial (such as inter-race marriages), she had decided to associate herself with one race and completely admonish her relationship with the other, despite that fact that it was her Irish mother who had remained with her ever since her African-American father had left. As Arrizn mentions, similar to gender performtativityaccording to Judith Butler, gender can always be adopted and then performedrace performativity not only subverts the dominant hegemonic discourse but borders the relation between self and other, black and white (and the in-between) (Arrizn 111). Berry chose to conform to a particular race in order to alleviate the racial tensions that come with her dual ethnicity.

Later on in her life, Berry dabbled in pageantry, even winning the Miss USA in 1986, and modelling before transitioning into the small screen with roles in short-lived series Living Dolls and Knots Landing, and finally in the big screen with her breakthrough role in Spike Lees Jungle Fever (1991). As a figure in the public eye, she used her features to make her distinct from the other personas in a white-washed industry. This, essentially, resonates of our understanding of the trials of the tragic mulata. Instead of beginning her quest for identity through the recognition of her own two races, she uses her body and sexuality to derive at an individuality supplied to her by the patriarchal system. Using this as an analysis of Berrys life, she, despite acknowledging one aspect of her self, continued to bank on her innate exoticness through participating in beauty pageants and modeling, to create her own identity.

Careys story also echoes this assessment, but her discovery of self goes through a different medium. According to an analysis of Careys rise to fame in Two or Three Spectacular Mulatas and the Queer Pleasures of Overidentificaiton (2008) by Hiram Perez on the correlation of the diva and the mulatta, her music is a necessary step to achieving emancipation from an overly oppressive marriage (with music mogul Tommy Motola), and therefore, a detraction from the conventional idea of the tragic mulata. She says, The mulattos unstable constitution spelled disaster for Carey from the start. But it also set the stage for Mimis emancipation, and that is why perhaps, we queers of color abide the tiredyet seemingly inexhaustibletragic mulatto stereotype. To glory in the dusky divas emancipation, we must reify the symbolic of blood from which we all, paradoxically, seek emancipation (Perez 114).

These two iconic figures, having dislodged themselves from the traditional notion of the mulatta now seek to find an alternate plane from whence they can glorify in their multi-ethnicity. But this gets lost, I argue, in the process of the audience assessment of them and their personalities. They still remain, despite themselves, objectified amidst the bright lights of celebrity.

Turner calls this the human pseudo event wherein the ideal person (the actress and the singer) is fabricated for the media and evaluated in terms of the scale and effectiveness of their media visibility (5). In essence, the celebrity becomes the commodity of the media and of society. When the mulata ventures into this sphere, she once again finds herself depraved of her much-regarded racial identity and is reduced once again to the body the honey-colored skin, the appropriate curves, the small face. Her being is lost amidst the flashing lights of the photographers. She resumes her place as the other, both in gender and in race. Vera Kutzinski states, as summarized by Arrizn, that her body may be feminine in appearance, but much more significant than its gender attributes is that it is the site of an erotic performance represented as the feminine (Arrizn 112). With this in mind, the mulatta body is conceived as a mythical site that gathers everyone to view its spectacle. The body transcends any metaphysical, cultural, and racial boundaries, even so now that it has come into the eye of an unrelenting audience that only yearns to view it in its perfection. And with an audience of varied ethnicities, the body becomes their Ideal, their symbol of otherness. It becomes a mythic other.

Redeeming Identity
Carey calls herself nebulous, suggesting hazy images hovering above traditional standards, and perhaps until now upon the viewers eye, she still is. Like Berry, they both remain figures, not just of stardom, but of multi-ethnicity that tries to regain footing in a world at a loss for racial recognition. They are nebulous despite their success and renown because, as public perceptions go, they are but figures. So, as the fans scream and shriek, attempting to reach out and hold a veritably fabled hand or touch this ambiguous celebrity skin, she walks gracefully past, nothing but an object of myth.

The film Rosewood is based on a true story that occurred in a small town called Rosewood in Florida. Director John Singleton brings this forgotten story into reality with superb directing with a cast starring Don Cheadle as Sylvester and Jon Voight as Mr. John Wright, a white store owner who inhabits the town of Rosewood. The population of Rosewood is primarily middle class African Americans, most of whom work at a nearby settlement composed of white people. When I was watching this movie, the character of John Wright struck me as vital because of the dilemma he was stuck in because of the sympathy he held for black people.
   
A white woman from the town of Sumner neighboring Rosewood claims that she has been assaulted and possibly raped by a black man from Rosewood and white men from Sumner gang up and instigate racially motivated violence at the residents of Rosewood. The town I eventually wiped from the face of the earth. John Wright is alienated from the white supremacists that occupy Sumner, and cannot fathom their rage or the motivation of the revenge they perpetuate against the citizens of Rosewood on the basis of allegations they cannot prove. He, together with other sympathizers of the African American population of Rosewood, and they aid them to escape to other bigger towns using trains and buses as their houses and property goes up in flames.
   
Racism is a grave issue, and it drives the residents of Sumner to commit horrendous acts against African Americans in Rosewood. He knows that human life is precious, and that people should not be made to pay for the crimes of others, worse still for crimes that cannot be proven to have been committed. The theme of hostility and aggression comes out strongly as white residents from Sumner appear to have been just looking for an excuse to eliminate their African
American counterparts from Sumner. The white men who indiscriminately perpetuate what they would refer to as justifiable homicide against the population of Sumner have no rationality from the perspective of John Wright.
   
Rape is used as a symbol of racial prejudice, a tool that can be used to get back at people of the opposite race for racial disparities that have existed in the society for such a long period of time. Rape is also used as a symbol, representing the worst type of crime people of one race can wage against those from another race. It is so serious that when a white woman from Sumner claims that she has been raped by an African American man from Sumner, white people from the town gang up and destroy the town of Rosewood. John Wright cannot understand how people can be so irrational as to compensate an alleged crime with so much violence and destruction of human life.
   
John Wright equates the hostility and aggression exhibited by white people from Sumner against the residents of Rosewood as counter racism. His thoughts are very clear and that is why, even though he himself is adulterous and can therefore be judged as lacking the moral authority to be narcissist, assumes the responsibility of rescuing African American people from the racially motivated violence of his fellow white men.
   
John Wright is faced with a very difficult choice. He must first of all resolve his own issues about race that have made him socially alienated from his fellow white men so that he can save the people of Rosewood. The people of Sumner are, from John Wright s perspective, philosophically alienated from the correct social doctrines and that is why they act the way they do. I interpreted his actions based on his actions, and I think the person who wrote the script for this movie made him specifically humane to prove to the world that despite the racial hatred  that existed in American society at the time, there still existed people who were sensitive enough to accept African Americans as equals to white people. The theory of projection applies to John Wright s character in the movie Rosewood. He is in denial of himself in the way he relates to the people of Rosewood and the white population of Sumner. His conscience however succeeds in seeing through the mob s evil and with the help of reluctant operators of the Gainsville railway line, he manages to save many lives.
   
Welsing dedicated her work to both present and past victims of racism because she first of all understood the detriment the social phenomenon it has on people. Racism as a system affects not only the victims but also the perpetuators. It causes self-hate and loathing on the part of the perpetuator and undermines the dignity of the victims. Having this awareness in mind, she tried to make people more sensitive to racial issues so that the society can reap the benefits of harmonious living.
   
Wesling also understood that racism can lead to bullying and consequently agoraphobia, social phenomena that can make people miss opportunities life has to offer. She was advocating for a racism-free society where each member can reap the benefits other people can offer disregarding their race. It was her dream that people would one day accept racial diversity as an advantage and therefore overlook racial distinctions so that everyone can make the most out of their lives.

Even during the early times, the Negroes were discriminated. They were segregated from others in almost all aspects of living. Negroes dont get maximum utilization of their countrys resources. In some places, Negroes are treated as slaves or commoners. They were considered to be inferior to the whites because the government considers the whites to be the people who are more successful. They think that only the whites can add up to the innovation and development of their country.

In transportation, Texas required railroad companies to have a special accommodation for Negroes in their trains. However, the authorities from the railroad companies are prohibited by the military government so they have no choice put to continue the discriminating Negroes. Negroes were not allowed to keep in touch with the whites because it is very unusual to see Negroes and whites together especially in a public and social gathering.  That is why there is a first-class accommodation and second-class accommodation in passenger trains. The first-class accommodation is given to whites. This type of accommodation has complete facilities which are suited for a special treatment. Conversely, the second-class accommodation is given to Negroes. Obviously, this is the opposite of the first-class.
   
Another aspect of racial separation among the Negroes and the whites was education. Segregation of schools prevailed in different races and the Negroes were the ones who were given less privilege on education. The government only supported the Whites. They provided Negroes with separate facilities and services. Negroes are normally enrolled in public schools where less attention is given by the government.
   
Until then, Jim Crow proposed a system that would separate Negroes from whites. An example of this is the passenger train system. Seen this way, Negroes and whites will really be separated. Internal and external conflicts between the two races will be avoided because they are living independently and separately. The development of Jim Crows system was brought about by the end of slavery. Slavery comprised the revolutionary segregation of races. This idea continued to be unchanged until the middle of the twentieth century.
   
As mention earlier, slavery was a part of the development of Jim Crows system. In Vermont, slavery was not a common thing. Slavery was not true for all Negroes but still they were part of the racial segregation.
   
Negroes were caught in conflicts with other races. Negroes were defeated in the Battle of Long Island which happened in August 1776. The battle aimed to redeem the defense mechanism of the Negroes and therefore securing New York City. They gathered twenty thousand men of different nationalities but same color.
   
South Carolina had a different experience on racial segregation. There was equality among the whites and the blacks. Negroes are now seen together with the whites. They are seen in public places and are able to mingle with the whites. There was social and public equality. However, the situation of South Carolina was not true for all places. Negroes were withdrawn in some public places. The authorities kept on separating Negroes from the whites. The good thing is the Negroes were not too forceful in protecting and claiming their rights. They do not use power and excessive force to defend their rights. It became natural for Negroes to act as if they are not being hurt. It becomes an involuntary feeling because they are getting used to the thought of it.
   
Thomas Kench further strengthened Jim Crows segregation system. He emphasized that Negroes must be separated from the whites. He cited a situation where a company should either be consisted of pure whites or pure Negroes. Negroes must be detached from the whites in any line of work especially in military. He believed that each race can perform and function independently.

An evaluation of whether Malcolm Xs or Martin Luther Kings strategy was more successful in advancing equality for African Americans  needs to recognize that these mens  goals were also different. King worked with white people to achieve equality Malcolm X stressed self-reliance. King used non-violent protest Malcolm X condoned violence. Malcolm X, like King, wanted equality of opportunity but he did want integration into white society. Did Congress, intimidated by violence and the threat of more violence (Malcolm Xs strategy), pass Civil Rights legislation Or, was this due to Kings non-violent strategy and his success in winning white support. Or, did both strategies contribute more or less equally Toward the end of their lives, the two men drew closer, each adopting aspects of the others strategy. After describing the two men and their strategies, this convergence is analyzed. Rejecting the claim that either man is due more credit than the other, both contributed to what achieved by the Civil Rights movement.
Malcolm X (1925-1965) Black consciousness.
   
Malcolm X was for most of his life vilified by white society as the former cocaine dealer and ex-convict, whose gospel was hate and whose creed was violence (Lentz 148). This did not appeal to politicians or to comfortable middle-class white America. Malcolm X (Malcolm Little) was the son of a Baptist minister (X and Haley 3). His father died in 1931,  leading to changed circumstances. When his mother became mentally ill, Malcolm and his siblings were placed in care (X and Haley 25). He drifted into crime, pimping, con games of many kinds, peddling dope, and thievery of all sorts, including armed robbery (X and Harley 97). In 1946, an eight year sentence sent him to prison (X and Harley 175). It was in prison that he joined Muhammad Elijahs Nation of Islam. Later, as a minister of NOI he became its chief spokesman. Elijah, the NOI and Malcolm X preached that African-Americans could not expect justice or achieve equality in white dominated society.

Stolen from Africa, their identity, pride and dignity was also stolen. Malcolm substituted X for Little symbolizing that slavery had also stolen his real African name.Elijah taught that the black race was civilized long before white men even existed, that human historys greatest crime was the traffic in black flesh (X and Harely 187). Convinced that black people could never expect just treatment in white society, Elijah demanded a separate black state, which X supported. Only in their own state could blacks achieve their own identity, develop their own culture and lay the foundations fore a self-respecting productive community (xi). Xs message, Sitkoff says, was one of separatism and violence (154). Only the threat of violence would convince the white majority, who control Congress, to allow black Americans a state of their own.
  
Since 1909, the movement for racial equality had been led by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, using the strategy of legal challenge to existing laws based on appeal to the Constitution. This strategy depended on white support. The NOI saw this approach as an undignified from of dependency, no better than living off welfare. Teaching the ethic of work, family responsibility, good parenting, the NOI encouraged self-reliance. However, legal gains were made by NAACP court appeals. A major victory was the 1954 Supreme Court ruling in Brown v Board of Education that segregated schooling was illegal. Yet this did not result in immediate change as School Districts found ways to delay integration. In the South, segregation was a fact of life not only in schools but in shops, on the buses and in public space, with separate park benches, restrooms and drinking fountains for black and white. Realizing that even a change in law did not automatically result in an end to discrimination, segregation or hostility, African-Americans began to take direct action against an unjust system. Boycotts, strikes, marches on the one hand were often peaceful. On the other hand, some took the opportunity to act violently.
   
It was Malcolm X who gave voice to the anger and pain of young blacks in the ghetto. He encouraged a fighting pride in blacks which struck deep chords among the many in Afro-America who demanded faster and more fundamental changes in racial conditions and called for more forceful means to achieve these ends (Sitkoff 154). X was not the only African-American leader who preached black pride and power, self-defense or armed resistance, effectively splitting the civil rights movement into pro-violence and anti-violence wings (Kotz 362).  When Congress began passing Civil Rights acts, such as the 1964 Act and the Voting Right Act (1965), violence was very much part of the.

The Voting Rights Act was itself followed by a series of riots in which the cry of Black and White Together was drowned out by that of Black Power and Burn, Baby, Burn succeeded Freedom Now (Sitkoff 200). Violence spread to the North as unprecedented numbers of blacks threw Molotov cocktails, looting and burning stores, and firing upon police (Sitkoff 202-3). Malcolm saw what he called an American nightmare not an American dream (Sitkoff 211). The Black Panthers, founded in 1966, also engaged in violence. One argument is that Civil Rights legislation was passed in the hope of ending violence, due to intimidation. This argument, though, fails to explain why violence not only continued fter new legislation but actually increased.
   
Martin Luther King (1929-1968) Non-Violent Protest
King, a Baptist minister and son of a minister with a doctorate from Boston University (Katz 46) was recruited to civil rights activism following an incident in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama when Rosa Parks refused to give her seat to a white man, so was arrested. King was invited to organize and lead a bus boycott. Developing his strategy of non-violence, King organized the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which then took a major lead in the Civil Rights struggle. While sharing the NAACPs goal of assimilation into wider American society and subscribing to the American Dream it did not rely on court appeals to achieve racial justice. It took the struggle to the streets. It was pro-active in challenging injustice, choosing Birmingham, Alabama for example in 1963 because it was highly segregated and racist and because it knew that the police chief would react violently. The aim was to attract white sympathy as peaceful protesters were attacked in the streets. King drew on Mahatma Gandhis non-violent philosophy of protest and on Christian ideas about the possibility of redemption.

He believed in common human values, that when people saw the iniquity of segregation, they would make the right moral choice and end it. In his doctoral thesis, he argued that men and women have the power to choose good over evil (Katz 46). Many white people did support King. Toward the end of his life, Kings anti-Vietnam war on poverty and anti-war campaigns attracted negative coverage but he was idolized by the media. After his death, Kings public stature grew apace, making critical assessment almost impossible (King 86). The media tends to depict him as almost single-handedly responsible for Civil Rights progress. In this view, it was Kings non-violent strategy and not Malcolm Xs militancy that proved to be more effective. King became more militant at the end but was resurrected as the gentle prophet by the media (Lentz 307).

The two strategies coalesced
To the media, King and X presented convenient contrasts Kings name evokes a warm civic memory as the integrationist preacher, an example of the triumph of good over evil (Romano 145). X was a symbol of black rage (Lentz 309). Howard-Pitney (2004) argues, however, that the relationship between X and King was more complex. After his break with the Nation of Islam, when he retracted his view of black racial superiority and embraced equality of all people, X shifted away from separatism (Lentz 258). In September, 1964 he began to cooperate with King to pressure Congress to reform the law, despite having famously called him an Uncle Tom (Lentz 114). During most of his life, X saw Kings strategy as playing the white mans game, the religious, participatory, democratic and liberal dimensions of the movement seemed hopelessly reformist or bourgeois or white  and usually all three together (King 5). King, for his part, drew closer to Xs militancy in his later years, denouncing the USA as the greatest purveyor of violence in the world and calling capitalism the cause of social and racial inequality (King 141). King lauded Malcolm on the occasion of his death (Romano 141), challenging the idea of irreconcilable polarity.
  
Even as King advocated love of all people, Malcolm X preached separatism and violence (Sitkoff 153).  Both men had constituencies. King spoke for some but not for all African-Americans (King 90). X certainly spoke for some. To evaluate who was more effective in stimulating change is impossible. Legislation was passed both to discourage violence and to acknowledge the depth of public support for better race relations.

Racism entails believes by individuals about race as the primary source of traits together with capabilities with racial differences contributing to inherent superiority or inferiority of a given race. In institutional racism, certain groups may be deprived of their rights, benefits or can be subjected to preferential treatment. Racism in America has for long been an issue of controversy from the colonial time. The country has had majority of its occupants being whites compared to other races that do exist. Most people who have or long been victims of racial discrimination in the states include African Americans, Irish Americans, African Americans, American Jews, and Asian American together with other immigrant groups.   

Racial discrimination has been practiced in a variety of sectors including employment, government, and housing together with Education. Racial discrimination was done away with in mid 20th century but still racial policies still continue to exist. A substantial part of the US population still holds racist attitudes with individuals of each American Ethnic group expressing some aspects of racism in dealing with members outside their ethnic group (Lawrence, 2005).

Racism towards ethnic Americans
Native Americans have lived on the North America continent for the last 20,000 years. They have had a significant impact on the history together with racial relations of America. During colonial and also independency periods, a series of disputes were staged against Native Americans with an aim of taking resources away from the Native Americans. As a result, land was taken, people were forcefully displaced and others killed and several hardships introduced to them. After United States came into existence, the idea that suggested removal of Indian was accelerated. (Berger, 1997)

However, some Natives were allowed to stay in condition that they could be subjected to racist institutions. What followed was constant resistance from the Native Americans which came to form a constant feature in the history of America. Native Americans territories were integrated to be part of the United States. Native Americans, who had survived, were discriminated against and were also denied equality before the law. They became part of the State (Mcdonald, 2009). They were consigned to reservations that comprised of 4 of the United States territory. Agreements that they had with them was broken and thousands of them were forced to go embrace a residential school scheme that whose aim was to reeducate them on the values of the white settlers , cultures and also their economy. Dispossession when on further through concessions which increased problems, led to royal rates exploitation, environmental pollution together with misuse of funds that they had been entrusted with. Native Americans were discriminated against (Goudge, 2003).

Some whites like George Washington believed that Native Americans were also equal although their society was inferior they decided to appoint agents who will teach them on how they should live with the whites. They came up with policies that could help bring about the civilization that they needed to the Native Americans. The policy consisted of a 6 point plan that included the following that applied to the Native Americans fair justice, regulated buying of land from the Native Americans, promotion of trade, encouraged experiments that could help bring change to the Native Americans and punishment for those who violated the rights of Native Americans. Native Americans were later granted the citizen ship through an act called the Indian Citizenship act that was enacted in 1924 although prior to that almost two-thirds had become citizens (Marcus, Mullins, Brackett, Tang, Allen  Pruett, 2003).

Discrimination against African Americans
 According to Denney, 1992, thousands of slaves from Africa used to serve European colonists prior to slavery becoming racial based. They did the service together with other Europeans who were serving indentured servitude. Africans slaves were sometimes freed and awarded land after a term although it was rare. Prior to American Revolution, Nathaniel Bacon organized a rebellion against the Virginia governor and the exploitative system that he represented in which the rich landowners took advantage of the poor. The poor united in the fight against the regime putting aside their racial differences. Both the blacks and poor whites that were being exploited joined hands in the fight. After Bacon died, the participants were enticed to disarm with an amnesty promise. After which the rebellion lost strength and subsided (Bhatt, 2006).
Blacks were used as farm laborers. They were also used as domestic servants, shipyards, and docks. Only the rich were allowed to own slaves. The poor whites who were also working as laborers felt that their labor was being devalued by the black laborers. This led to the social rift based on color which became deep rooted in the American culture. Although importation of slaves was illegalized, it continued in the US. The ban only applies to states that were under the confederation states of America. Only slaves that were under the confederation states were freed but slavery continued in the USA until the 13th amendment was declared on December 6, 1865 (Fox, 2001).

Approximately 4 million blacks were set free from slavery. Despite the freedom and amendment, discrimination continued with the existence of biased practices such as educational inequality together with widespread criminal acts towards blacks. The new century saw hardening of institutional racism together with impartial delivery of justice to black citizens. This led to worse forms of racism that involved racial discrimination, expression of supremacy by whites together with isolation. Racism that was a problem of the south spread nationally through relocation of African Americans from the south to industrial centers located in the north (Jonas, 2005). 

Discrimination continued to be practiced towards a wide range of people that included Asian-Americans, Latin-Americans and Caucasians. Poor whites who predominantly occupied the southern rural were also classified in the same category as African-Americans. Social crimes that targeted Americans emerged like the Anti-white crimes in San Francisco and Zebra murders of which a group called Death angels were responsible. Others included Beltway sniper attacks that had a target of killing 6 whites a day for a period of 30 days.
Strive, conflict and reconciliation.
 
The US has since then undertaken reconciliation together with conflict resolution among the minority groups. This has led to the modern assimilation of the descendants of Europe to the modern, larger White American Group. Black-White separation is slowly fading away in most areas together with cities. Despite the continuous pattern of change, individual changes are minimal where by the US still remains a residentially isolated society with the Whites and Blacks inhabiting separate neighborhoods that differ in quality. Racial segregation could be the reason as to why there are differences in mortality rates between cities (Fox, 2001).
According to Goudge, 2003 studies show lower mortality rates in male and female African Americans that live in areas that have low levels of housing separation. If equal distribution of healthcare services across the population regardless of the racial background could be possible, studies show that more than 886,000 of African Americans could have been avoided. This is because of unequal access to insurance inadequate insurance policies, poor service together with reluctance to seek medical treatment. Studies have shown that black Americans are likely to miss important treatments that involve use of modern technology compared to whites (Jonas, 2005).

Through affirmative action policies, access to education and employment for women together with minority groups can be improved. This can be achieved through addressing effects that have been brought by discriminatory treatment in the past and through encouraging public institutions like universities to be a bit more representative of the population. Such programs should include recruitment and preferential care to people from areas which have historically been disadvantaged or through use of quotas. Other groups that are considered dominant do not support affirmative action as greater access of the historically unprivileged groups to employment positions will be a disadvantage to them (Bhatt, 2006).

To them this could demonstrate over preference for certain applicants based on backgrounds at the expense of quality. Others feel that merit should be the only consideration when selecting between applicants. There are others who criticize affirmative action on the grounds that it continues to encourage division based on race. On the other hand, the group that supports affirmative action feels that the claims of injustices by the dominant group can not be supported by facts. They base their argument on statistics that show that affirmative action has not resulted to lesser opportunities among the Whites (Fox, 2001).

With the raging debate on whether those who are perceived to be less privileged and have been subjected to previous racial injustices should be empowered, it is difficult to come to an appropriate decision. This brings about controversy where affirmative action should be encouraged or discouraged with both groups feeling that they are being sidelined. The debate continues to attract the attention of US citizens and its unclear if a decision that could be able to satisfy both parties will be found.