Commentary on Quotations - Essay Example

Analysis of Quotations America has often been described as a melting pot, a place that is home to people coming from all over the world. The Constitution of the United States, set out by the Founding Fathers of the nation, emphasized equality and liberty as the right of every individual. In practice, the diversity of races and cultures coupled with America’s history of slavery have brought about upheavals that are still ongoing, where the differences in culture and beliefs have produced racial hatred and tensions. The civil rights movement established the struggle to secure the rights to equality to black citizens but in modern day America, there are other problems created by the inability that still exists to resolve racial tensions and build more empathy and understanding between races. The quotations from famous works below explore some aspects of freedom and independence for all races. 1. John Winthrop in Carroll, Andrew. “Letters of a nation”, 1999 at page 5 “Yet we may not look at great things here. It is enough that we shall have Heaven through we pass through Hell to it.” In this extract from a latter, John Winthrop is actually speaking of the privations endured on a ship and the relief that they were able to receive. But in these words that speak of Heaven, a Heaven that can be attained although it is necessary to pass through Hell to get to it, there is an underlying symbolism that indicates happiness and godly ends can only be achieved after much struggle and suffering. The heaven that is described in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, which aims to bring equality and liberty to every individual, can only be achieved after much upheaval and turmoil. This is especially notable in the civil rights movement and the long struggle endured by the slaves in achieving their freedom; they have literally passed through Hell and fought for the equality promised in the Constitution, so that successive generations would not have to endure the privations they did. 2. Katz, Daniel (edn). “Why freedom matters: Celebrating the declaration of independence in two centuries of prose, poetry and Song.” Workman Publishing Company, 2003 at pg 23 This land is your land, this land is my land From California, to the New York Island From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters This land was made for you and me These poignant words, drawn from the American National hymn, express the spirit of the unity and equality that the nation’s forefathers desired when they framed the Declaration of Independence. These lines clearly state the ownership of American soil is not restricted to any particular race or class, it belongs to every American, irrespective of age, sex or race. The practice of segregation which was practiced in America would therefore rise in contravention to the spirit of equal ownership of land, because it declared certain territories off bounds for slaves. Any practice that seeks to isolate members of particular group within a particular geographical terrain and refuse to let them be free would also rise in contravention to the spirit of these lines – for instance, confining red Indians on reservations. The free flowing, free spirited nature of freedom of movement and possession of a common sense of unity and pride in every American that is represented in this song is still far away from actually being achieved but tremendous steps have been taken in the right direction through electoral and legal means. 3. Anna Deavere Smith. “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, page 2. I realized I had an enemy and that enemy was those nice white teachers. I wonder what is it, why did I have this madness that I understood it? It’s not an enemy I hated. It’s not a hate thing.” Racial hatred and differences are largely the cause of the discord that still exists and the failure to fully achieve the goals of equality ad liberty for every American as enshrined in the Constitution. The sentiments in the lines above, expressed from the perspective of a member of a minority, reflect the blind rage and antipathy that members of one race experience for another, which makes them view each other as enemies. But there is one important aspect of this racial hatred that can be clearly noted in these lines. The dislike and prejudice is not targeted at any single member, rather it is directed at the entire group or community. In designating the enemy as the “nice white teachers”, it appears that the underlying causes of the racial antipathy the speaker feels may lie in social factors that generate a dislike of the white people in the immediate environment, rather than being derived from a hatred of the white race in general. The differences that give rise to discord may be caused by physical, social and environmental differences as well as differences in the way of thinking and a lack of understanding of racial groups. These may be the causal factors that lead to mistrust of one community for another in its immediate environment and which is extended to others in general. 4. McWilliams, Carey. “The Non vanishing Indian” IN “Brothers under the skin.” 1942 at page 2 “ Within the limitations of native technology, there was literally no room for additional people on the continent. The European settler could never understand this fact, but it was an agonizing reality to the Indian. Out of this cultural conflict came war; then race hatred; then more wars in which race hatred served as a cause.” This passage which deals with the underlying cause of development of racial hatred between the whites and Indians also sheds light on how color and race behavior were conditioned. The roots of racial hatred that is based upon color differences between individuals is based upon the attitudes that white Americans developed towards the Indians, whose thought patterns were very different from theirs. The difficulties in arriving at a mutual understanding and appreciation of each others’ differences may have ultimately led to racial hatred. The lines above provide an indication that the cause for antipathy between the whites and Indians was not prejudice as such, but rather a social problem that developed out of the failure of each side to understand the other. This lack of understanding between the races later grew into racial hatred. 5. O’Hearn “Half and Half” page 2-3 “In woodland hills, my family had moved on up and that meant most of the other families in our neighborhood were white and I felt racially isolated and socially lonely for a couple of years.” These lines from Garret Honjo’s essay “Lost in place” explore a different aspect of racial tension which arises in those individuals who are racially mixed and are the products of racial intermarriages. These children are different from others because they do not easily fit into any particular category. This places them in a sort of limbo where they are unable to belong definitively within a particular racial group and this leads to feelings of racial isolation. The feeling of being unique and different from others functions as a palliative only to a certain extent, in large part being different also becomes wearing and such mixed, half and half individuals find it difficult to achieve a sense of belonging. 6. Brooks, David. “Paradise Drive.” “There is no one single elite in America. Hence there is no definable establishment to be oppressed by and to rebel against. Everybody can be an aristocrat within his own Olympus.” These lines by Brooks highlight some of the means by which Americans are coping with the difficulties in dealing with the differences existing between them. There is a glorification of the differences, to the point that the isolation is all pervading. The lines above suggest that Americans are not making the effort to reach across the divides and resolve differences, rather the America that is evolving is one that established parallel paths for everyone, so that individuals do their own thing, each seeking to be unique in his or her own way, in order to justify the lack of communication and interaction between Americans, most especially those of different races. 7. Abraham Lincoln. “The perpetuation of our political institutions: Address before the young men’s Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois, January 27, 1838, at page 4 “When men take it in their heads today, to hang gamblers, or burn murderers, they should recollect that, in the confusion usually attending such transactions, they will be as likely to hang or burn someone who is neither a gambler nor a murderer as one who is, and that, acting upon the example they set, the mob of tomorrow may and probably will, hang or burn some of them by the very same mistake.” This paragraph deals with the dangers associated with slavery and the mob mentality that seeks to unload the wrath of a crowd upon an entire group of people, irrespective of their individual responsibility for the purported offensive acts. The lines above underlie the madness and danger inherent in the mob mentality and the indiscriminate use of violence while disregarding the law. When such a mob mentality is exercised against a particular group of people, it can also cause harm to many innocent people. This may also be an underlying reference to prejudice, which travels down over the generations and has produced conditions of racial inequality for the African American group in general. 8. Herman Melville. “Bartleby the Scrivener: A story of Wall Street”, 1853 at pp 89 “For the first time in my life a feeling of overpowering stinging melancholy seized me. Before, I had never experienced aught but a not-unpleasing sadness. The bond of a common humanity now drew me irresistibly to gloom. A fraternal melancholy! For both I and Bartleby were sons of Adam.” The phrase “bond of a common humanity” is rather significant in this passage. It indicates that the author, while not necessarily a man with the kind of disposition prone to helping people, nevertheless finds himself predisposed to help Bartleby because they were both “sons of Adam”. The kind of bond the author speaks of is a fraternal melancholy, which leads him to participate in the melancholy that Bartleby feels, because they are both united in that they are members of the human race. This is one element that bonds people of all races – the fact that every individual, despite his or her race, is a member of the human race and thus, a basic case for unity of all human beings, irrespective of race, is presented. 9. Black, Eric. “Our Constitution: The Myth that binds us.” Page 5 “The farmers has gained something by their successful war effort. They now lived in the most democratic society in the world.” As the new United States of America came into being and struggled to establish itself, the Shays rebellion was one of the first attempts to secure rights by approaching political leaders. The line above clearly shows that the people of America had gained a valuable gift by shaking off British yoke and seeking independence – the freedom of democracy, that put the people themselves in charge of Government and the laws that would be in place to govern the nation and secure their rights. 10. Martin Luther King, Jr. “I have a dream” speech. Accessed October 28, 2008 from: http://www.usconstitution.net/dream.html “ When the architects of our Republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Over the generations, the most significant struggle to transform the promises of liberty and equality inherent in the U.S. Constitution is the Civil Rights movement that sought to garner these rights on the behalf of black Americans as well. The lines above clearly indicate that the rights to life, liberty and happiness are to belong to every American, even if he or she is black. These lines represent the major thrust of Dr. King’s dream – to see black people also achieving the rights promised in the Constitution. 11. Hughes, Langston. “A dream deferred”. (Poem) “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore – and then run?” These lines express the reality that the African American faces in the present day. The dream of equality enshrined in the Constitution has not been achieved. The poet questions what would happen in such a case. Would hope of achieving the dream be extinguished? Or would it rankle and fester, erupting into more unhealthy manifestations of rebellion at centuries of oppression? 12. Tupac Shakur, “To live and die in LA” (Class notes, at pg 6) “….nigga got smoked by a fiend, trying to floss on him, blind to a broken man’s dreams. A hard lesson, caught cases keep them guessing, plea bargain ain’t an option now saw him stressing cost me more to be a free man than a life in the penn.” These lines underscore the desperation that is so characteristic of the lives of some modern day African Americans. The expression blind to a broken man’s dreams could refer to the insensitivity of the general population to the failure to achieve the true equality promised by the Constitution. A life of crime appears to be the only option for these individuals, because it is hard for them to find productive work in the outside world and jail appears to be a better place where their basic needs for food and shelter are met. Slavery as an institution has interfered with the rights of liberty and equality of African Americans, which has spilt over into the present time, with many individuals of this race opting for a life of crime. The Declaration of Independence of the United States is founded upon the principle that all people are equal. But racial hatred and prejudice existing in the country appears to be caused mostly due to the social and cultural differences between races, which in turn, creates a divide between them that slowly degenerates into hate. Rather that bridging this gap through understanding and communication, the modern trend appears to be for Americans to isolate themselves into their own racial and cultural worlds and live parallel lives. Minorities are not assimilating well into mainstream culture and African Americans in the modern day, post-Civil-Rights era are increasingly taking to a life of crime. The American dream has not yet manifested itself as the founding fathers visualized it. Read More