AWESOME POSTS!

I recently viewed Jamila's post about The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole age 13 3/4. I really liked how she put herself in the situation saying, "If it were me in the situation, I don't think I could've handled everyday life." This showed that she really put herself in the character's shoes. She added to that later by writing a poem in the point of view of her main character. Another blog I viewed was Alyssa's. Alyssa apploed the writing style of the author to ther own writing technique, saying that she wanted to do this. This shows how she admired not only the book, but the writing style.

Race- Thoughts on Theme from On Beauty by Zadie Smith

    I recently completed On Beauty, a novel by Zadie Smith. One theme that I saw had a strong presence in the book was race, or even more specifically, stereotypes. Howard Belsey, a White college professor married Kiki, a Black woman. Their 3 children, Jerome, Zora, and Levi were “complicated by race”.

     Levi chose to be “Black” or his opinion of the characteristics of the race. He walked with the “swag” that many young men attempt to have, cursed, and said “ain’t”.  To him, he was now embracing his race. He told his mother, Kiki how she was lucky to have married a white man. To me, people like Levi aren't embracing their race, but damaging the opinions of others. By acting as the stereotypical Black young man, he supports the beliefs of racists and people who believe in stereotypes.
    Levi was well educated, and although he was only 16, he was raised by a college professor, taught to speak properly. Despite his education, Levi said things like "ain't", and "yo". I think that it's okay for people who don't know better to speak in that manner.

   Zora and Jerome were themselves, and their race was just apart of their identities. They embraced who they were, but didn't allow racist stereotypes to define them or their personalities; they were happily themselves. Zora was a top student at Wellington College, where her father also worked. Jerome went to Brown University and developed his own beliefs (Christianity) which were against his parents'. People like Zora and Jerome had opportunities and education. They didn't let people tell them how a Black person ought to be, they became what they thought they ought to be.

    If people stopped trying to be "White", "Asian", "Black" and all the other so-called ways of a race, people would get along much better. Everyone has their own personality, and have their ways which may or may not be affected by race. For example, if everyone believed that a group of people were all ignorant and uneducated, and those people behaved that way and spoke as if they weren't educated, people would continue to believe those stereotypes. I think that people need to stop trying to be what their race is 'supposed to be', and start trying to be themselves, then, stereotypes could become extinct. As the book said, "Sometimes, you get a flash of what you look like to other people."
     
     On Beauty showed the importance of going against stereotypes and embracing race without shaming it. It showed me that people should be themselves, not what their race 'should be'.