Thursday, February 17, 2011
Dunbar...Suppressed?
In regards to the poem we read today, "We Wear the Mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar, I could not help but place a connection between the suppressed African Americans in which he is referring to and other limited individuals of our time. There are people who are presently starving, homeless, and have no support and nowhere to go. I have to admit that I am angered by the fact that Dunbar would think he could identify with slaves and/or present people with these limitations because he was very successful, and although he had a difficult time achieving his goals, I feel that he was a lucky individual. To say that he was gravely suppressed is untrue because he definitely attained a successful career in writing. Although most of his poems are a telling of others stories, in "We Wear the Mask" he is saying that he is a part of that group and, therefore, limited himself. I do not believe this at all; everyone has their struggles in life, some just lack the opportunities others are privileged with. In this case, Dunbar was a very privileged individual.
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Privilege is a complex web. Dunbar may have had class privilege from his financial success, but he did not have white privilege. Think of Ellen Degeneres. She certainly has class privilege, she's filthy rich, but she does not have heterosexual privilege.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that she felt the need to be closeted when she had a sitcom and did stand-up initially shows that she faced and endured discrimination. Even now, there are plenty that dislike her because she's a lesbian, and society is geared towards heterosexuals, so she can feel otherized by this even though she owns a mansion.
Dunbar was financially successful in ways that most African-Americans from his time and even today are not, but he did face discrimination that I as a white heterosexual male have never faced. I feel he does have credibility that I can learn from in this regard.