Artifact 2

The following journal references two works, one by Zora Neale Hurston ("How It Feels To Be Colored Me") and the other by Imani Perry ("Racism is Terrible. Blackness is Not."). In this short piece, I will disclose my opinions on the two articles and how much or how little that each of them resonated with me. I chose this piece to represent Artifact 2 because it is a good example of my ability to compare and contrast ideas from different authors.

I enjoyed reading Perry's article more than Hurston's because I believe it discussed the subject of Black pain with more nuance than Hurston's. I really liked that Perry emphasized the fact that racism is still alive and well, even if it doesn't consume the Black community's every waking moment. There were no concerns for me in regard to Perry's essay because I completely agree with it. Black people are collectively grieving, however, our joy is resilient and has kept us grounded for hundreds of years. I appreciate that she laid out the duality of the situation: we are more than the pain inflicted on our ancestors, and at the same time we can acknowledge that there are still some wounds that need to be nursed.

I was less fond of Hurston's essay, but I believe this has a lot to do with my reading it from a 2022 lens. Perry is right, Hurston wrote this before a lot of major milestones in the Civil Rights Movement and before seeing just how long the effects of slavery have lived on. Knowing this fact, I agree with the idea that Hurston did not know all of the information necessary to make a nuanced, 2022 argument. That being said, I am critiquing it from a 2022 perspective when I say that some of Hurston's words were concerning. For example, she writes: "Slavery is sixty years in the past. The operation is successful and the patient is doing well, thank you." This sentence is very indicative of how shallow her understanding was of institutional racism and slavery's lasting legacy. This makes sense for the time period, but I'm worried that any impressionable person reading this today will take on this view without having the other side presented to them: that you don't have to be depressed about slavery all the time, but it's still important to acknowledge its modern presence. This topic is one that needs to be thought of in terms of grey areas and spectrums. Ironically, nothing about this subject is black and white.