The Ethics of Living Jim Crowe

The Ethics of Living Jim Crowe starts off strong with the reader seeing the image of a race gang war, and the main character getting a milk bottle thrown at his head and gashing it by a rival gang. He is then scolded by his mother to hide when he is under attack, and to never get into something as foolish as a gang skirmish again. The short essay is about the "Jim Crow" rules of working he went by. He is faced with a lot of racism and mistreatment in his working experiences. The first time, he was working at a factory at a job he got by saying all the right things to the boss, being polite. But one slip up, he asked one of the workers to learn about the mechanics of grinding lenses. Then came the mistreatment. One day while he was working, "Morrie came over, blocking the narrow passage between the benches. He folded his arms, staring at me solemnly. I looked from one to the other, sensing that something was coming. 'Yes sir,' I said for the third time. Pease looked up and spoke very slowly. 'Richard, Mr. Morrie here tells me you called me Pease.' I stiffened. A void seemed to open up in me. I knew this was the show-down". This stuck out to me because it shows the amount of racism in this story. They ended up making him leave after beating him, but all he did was call one of the people that he worked with by their last name with no title in front of it, and basically they all ganged up on him and hazed him until he was forced to leave for his own safety. And it was all because he was black. This essay basically shows that the issues of racism in the work place made it absolutely miserable for them to say the least and something needed to change.

Life Stories

Life Stories: Class Book

Shane Wilson

The final portion of Precious concludes with a compiling of stories and poems written by Precious and her classmates. Each one is different and special to each individual author but at the same time each person faces many hardships growing up. Its interesting to learn about what Precious's classmates endured because until now you only knew their names. Race is quite apparent in each story and throughout this novel as a whole. One of the lines in Rita's story My Life is very subtle but if you dissect it, it becomes one of her more powerful lines throughout her entire story. Rita is talking about her apartment with her parents and says, "The shades is drawn. Whats inside is prettier, outside is just a brick wall." This quote said to me that Rita feels whats inside is much prettier than what is outside, like a personality of someone. Also the fact that she says the outside is a brick wall says to me that Rita is tough on the outside but it also says to me that Rita feels like just another brick wall and almost so generic to her surroundings . I think this is important because Rita has a feeling of just being like a " Brick Wall" on the outside but everything on the inside is much prettier.
Another topic that is discussed is religion in Jermaine's story. It talks about how how her mother is left with very little but the bible and her kids. Jermaine's mother preaches to the people on the train " Hell you are all going to hell! Unless you accept the word of gods only son JEEZUSS!!" If you are preaching this hard about the bible and its preachings than you must be quite the advocate of it in which case Jermaine's mother cannot be fine with her being a lesbian. You can see here that Jermaine's mother does not approve of this sinister act, " when she walks in on me and Mary-Mae fucking. Can't she see that we're in love? no, she can't. She starts foaming at the mouth screaming curses in the name of god". Race, ethnicity and religion are very touchy subjects in many families because in some cases, like that of Jermaines, religion is all they have left. It is tough to ever say that beatings, rapes and mistreatments of minorities by minorities will ever change, but is it still possible that it could?

chapter 4

Throughout chapter four of Precious, there is to be an important change going on in Precious’ life dealing with her views on race and ethnicity. Her way of thinking and acting are changing with her new lifestyle. In the beginning of this chapter her old views on skin are present and clear in her thoughts. While in school, Ms. Rain asks the students to write about the fantasy of themselves. Precious shows her belief that light skinned people are better off. “I tell you one thing right now, I would be light skinned, thereby treated right and loved by boyz” (pg 113).  Because Precious has been treated poorly and her family’s life was so bad, she assumed it was because of her dark skin color. All the people living the same, hard life as her were black people she saw living in Harlem. Media influences then gave Precious the idea that all the beautiful, rich people in the world were light skinned. She believes this up until the point when she attends her first Survivors of Incest meeting. A pretty, light skinned woman, who is the idealistic picture of beauty in Precious’ mind, stands up and talks about being the victim of incest. This clearly shocks Precious. “My mouth fall open. Someone like that” (pg 129). This quote is a turning point in the way Precious sees the world. Up to this point, she had always assumed that light skinned people had a perfect life. When she realizes this is not true, her thoughts on skin color begin to change. She can now see that the outside isn’t so important and this can help her start to accept herself for who she is. “I see flying. Feel flying. Am flying. Far up, but my body down in circle. Precious is bird” (pg 129). This shows great realization Precious has come to I’ve just explained. My only question is can Precious keep positive like this and really turn her life around? 

-Jordan

Chapter Three

            After reading just the first line of Precious, I could tell I was in for a culture shock. Based in Harlem, only a six hour car ride from where I live, it is upsetting to me that people’s lives in America can be so drastically different from my own, so much so that they are barely recognizable. This book is offering me fresh insight into the thought processes of others, specifically Precious.

            As I read, I wonder why Farrakhan is brought up so much. Precious seems to agree with whatever Farrakhan says, so I did some minor research on his character.

http://www.adl.org/special_reports/farrakhan_own_words2/farrakhan_own_words.asp If he is racist towards whites, Jews, and homosexuals, why does Precious look up to him? Reading chapter three, this question is in the back of my mind.

            Precious is African American, illiterate, and overweight, but apparently she harbors some racist beliefs of her own. When the possibility of moving to Queens is brought up, Precious says, “What I know about Queens?! They got Arabs, Koreans, Jews, and Jamaicans- all kinda shit me and Abdul don’t need to be bothered with” (79). Precious harbors some prejudice naturally, stemming from both Farrakhan and her mother. Her mother feels especially negative towards white people. They represent the higher educated people in society, and for individuals like her, they seem to cause nothing but trouble.

            While Precious may occasionally make a comment that may paint her as racist, I, as the reader, know that she is extremely kind-hearted. When it comes to white people, Precious admits that she thinks they are nice. She feels like a social inferior to them, however. On page 87 she asks herself, “Why I not born a light-skin dream?”, as if this would solve all of her troubles. Precious associates color with social standing, which is apparent when she discusses the skin colors of her fellow classmates. According to Precious, Consuelo is “bent outta shape ‘cause she darker like nigger instead of white” (95).

            As a white individual, it is very eye-opening to hear Precious talking about skin color in a manner that I have never had to think about. This chapter does mark a turning point for Precious. She takes responsibility for her life, and becomes independent from her mother. It is my hope that she will also separate herself from Farrakhan’s views, and begin to think on her own. I believe this starts to happen on page 81, when she finds out that Ms. Rain is a homosexual. Precious says, “I was shocked as shit. Then I jus’ shut up.” According to Farrakhan, Precious should dislike Ms. Rain for being homosexual, which forces Precious to question him for the first time.

            To my dismay, Precious brings up Farrakhan once again at the closing of the chapter. Why hasn’t she given up on his views yet? Precious then answers my question, and says that he  “help me like being black” (96). I decide that it is better for Precious to believe in something, as opposed to nothing.

Amanda