Paul Robeson:Life and Legacy - Term Paper Example

Paul Robeson: Life and Legacy The cultural literacy came up as a result of Hirsch’s experience while at the University of Virginia where his students were able to comprehend easily the passage on Robert Lee and Ulysses Grant while the students in Richmond Community College found it very difficult to comprehend because they lacked the obvious basic understanding of the Civil war in America. In this theory Hirsch states that decoding skills are not the only tool to be used in a reading comprehension and therefore a wide range of background knowledge on the culture is very crucial. The theory is based on cognitive science’s schema theory which tries to show how people organize the background knowledge that is well known to every individual about the world (Reiner 123). The knowledge is usually organized into units known as schemas. This means that when people get new knowledge, they build schemas out of them and try to link them with the previous schemas. Communication is best when people share these schemas, because there is no need of explicitness in the conversation. Therefore cultural literacy can be summed as a common store for relevant information from the background, information on people, common sayings, events, places and broadly shared ideas by the literate people of a culture or the speech community. The information is usually readily available because it’s part of the national culture and also present in unspoken conventions and associations, this determines how a society shapes the new knowledge into the existing ones. Paul Leroy Robeson was an African-American who was multitalented; he was a concert singer, an actor, a recording artist, a scholar and an athlete who also advocated for Civil Rights Movement incorporation with soviet communism support. He was born in New Jersey in 1898; he was the son of Maria Bustill and William Robeson. At the age of six years, he lost her mother as a result of fire and his father lost his job in pastorate of Princeton (Rebecca 102). He got a scholarship to study in Rutgers University where most of his talents were discovered like playing football and singing. His communist affiliations brought him under scrutiny, retribution and conflict with the government of America. He supported the communism because it supported non-segregations views and advocated for equal rights for every American which had made him to be dropped from the football national team, lose his work as a lawyer due to racism and the revocation of his passport. According to Hirsch, communication is the only tool to bring equality to the United States of America. This means that egalitarian society is possible through cultural literacy. Robeson as an individual was able to advocate for the rights of the black Americans in states like Washington for them to receive equal rights as other citizens of America. He even supported the communist that was very unpopular through his speeches as an orator (Wendy 138). His leading role in the play Othello where he kisses a white actor shows that a union between a black and a white is possible but only through understanding each other through communication and enlightenment of the upcoming generation for them to enhance brotherhood. Concepts like multi-culturalism or multi-lingualism are considered senseless according to Hirsch’s theory of cultural literacy. The importance of many cultures is acceptable since America is inhabited by many ethnic groups, but that should not be a source of disagreement. He favors a situation where the minority groups’ respect, nurture and protection should be catered for so that it’s the Americans who can decide what America means away from an hyphen which is usually attached to many Americans i.e. Polish-Americans, African- Americans, Asian-Americans and many more (Melanie 101). Robeson portrays his love for America when he was being questioned by the commission over his involvement with the communist party and his visit to the Soviet Union which he prefers to America. Robeson stated that he won’t leave America because his fathers and other people have died as slaves trying to build America; therefore he should be part and parcel of this noble course of building America. He had the motive to build America although he had suffered as a black American; this shows that if every American can have an attitude like his, then America can prosper than ever. Robeson stands out as someone who didn’t want to allow his problems to weigh him down. While as a young boy he was able to work to fend his families because of the death of his mother his and the father had lost his job as a pastor. He did this while still a student. This should an eye opener for youths who lose hope simply because they have met obstacles. As a black American, he was a legal lawyer but due to the unfair way he was being treated as a black, he opted to acting which was equally a tough field for a black person, some media houses advised people not to watch the plays that Robeson was featured, this did not deter Robeson from his acting career because he made to an extent of performing the Shakespeare plays in Europe like Othello where he was a leading actor (Grentz 240). The Othello was ground breaking because it involved a scene where he kisses a white girl and some people proposed that that part should be erased. However controversial it was a nice work by Robeson. This is a tangible example for students who think its hard to achieve whatever they aspire to achieve. Students can be inspired by the courageousness of Robeson and his achievements to venture into any field and work hard to better their lives. Robeson as an individual impacted the Americans very much and this portrayed clearly by naming of Paul Robeson High school in Philadelphia. The school was named to honor him as a multitalented person and general contribution to fight social injustices in the society like racism. His inclusion in the literature units in various Universities is another clear indication of his contribution to the work of art because he was a great musician and an actor. Robeson is a model to many people who love peace because he travelled around the whole preaching peace and agitating for equal rights for the blacks (Maurice 54). His praise for the Soviet didn’t mean he was against America but it was about the good treatment he got in the Soviet although he was an American and a black. He believed in friendship with the Soviets when everyone was against the soviets in America, this shows he loved peace. K-12 students are supposed to understand the culture of our society well because they are going to join tertiary colleges where they are going to mingle with students from various cultures that are unique to them (Kristin 87). They should be able to integrate their culture with other cultures. Robeson as a black was able to shine in the world with classical music and yet he grew up not knowing the classical music but due to integration of his culture, he was able to understand it. At their age of around seventeen to eighteen, they should be taught about Robeson since their reasoning and experience can make them understand what Robeson went through in his earlier years. The American civil Religion was considered prophetic and universal by Bellah as experienced by the American people. It claims that the Americans have a responsibility to try to be nice. America being the new Israel and Washington as Moses, considered Lincoln as the Christ figure that suffered for the second liberation. The agitation for civil rights for all Americans is considered one of the trials by the American Civil Religion, since Robeson was involved in this agitation, then he obviously contributed to the this religion’s bible (Julia 70). The constitution was sacred because it bound the existence of American people. Robeson sorts the assistance of the constitution when he faced the commission of inquiry to defend himself. As a lawyer it means he was to defend the constitution too, this qualifies him as a subscriber the religion. The religion kind of favors the white Americans because the civil religion has different predictors among the black, this is as a result of black separatism and ethinogenesis. Cultural literacy is the tool that can be used to improve the general performance of the learners in all spheres and the understanding of the essential past history of our great nation for every American in future and presently. Therefore cultural literacy should be part and parcel of the school curriculum for the improvement of their education. The people who did great works for the country like Robeson who was part of the American football team although he was being segregated upon, his singing career that saw him go places and his acting skills. The life of Robeson is a best example of the schemas that all American students should have at their fingertips as a source of motivation. This will enhance even unity among all the citizens because the use of communication in all aspects is very essential for the essence of understanding to avert violence. All learners should be at a point of understanding what the past contains for them to understand the present well and this should include fusing religion with our daily life. Works cited Bellah, Robert. The Broken Covenant: American Civil Religion in Time of Trial. Web May 1, 2012 Dorinson, Jospeh et al. Paul Robeson: Essays on his Life and legacy. Boston: Mcfarland & Co. Inc., 2004. Print. Grenz, Stanley. North American Report. Secular Saints. Civil Religion in America. 238-243. Hirsch Jr., D. Cultural Literacy: What American Need to Know. New York: Vintage Books, 1988. Print. Julia, Mickenberg. Learning from the Left Children’s Literature, the Cold War, and Radical Politics in the United States. New York: OUP USA, 2005. Print. Kristin, Mallegg. Who’s Who among African Americans, 23rd ed. New York: Gale, 2009. Print. Maurice, Peress. Dvor’ak to Duke Ellington: A Conductor Rediscovers America’s Music and its African-American Roots. New York: OUP USA, 2004. Print. Melanie, Wright. Moses in America: The Cultural use of Biblical Narrative. New York: OUP USA, 2002. Print. Moots, Glenn. The Protestant Roots of American Civil Religion. Humanistas. 23. 1 &2 (2010), 78-105. Rebecca, Alpert. Out of Field Jews and Black Baseball. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Print. Reiner, Carl. How Paul Robeson Saved my Life (Author Signed). New York: Harper Collins, 1999. Print. Wendy, Wall. Inventing the “American Way”: The Politics of Consensus from the New Deal to the Civil Rights Movement. New York: OUP USA, 2008. Print. Read More