Be Proud of Your Race

This action project is for my Rhetoric class. The purpose of this project was to take a speech that you think everyone should read and to write a reflection using the 3 rhetorical modes Ethos Pathos and Logos. I learned a lot about race pride and also that speeches that you have never heard of are often the best speeches. I am proud of all the work I did on my speech and also I really liked how I summed up Ethos Pathos and Logos. I had a lot of difficulty writing this piece because I am Hispanic so I have no personal experience being African American but I do know the importance about having race pride because I feel that your race is something that you will carry with you for the rest of your life so you might as well accept and love your race. I also had trouble actually writing my piece because I am not vey good with grammar or punctuation but I feel that I did very well. Please read my reflection below and please if you have a chance take a look at the book. ENJOY

I am not an advocate of racial segregation. I do not approve of having laws enacted which prohibit a person from living where he pleases in a democratic country. On the other hand, I do not approve of a statement of this kind: “Just as soon as I can get enough money I am going to get out of this trashy nigger neighborhood.” I feel that this is the most powerful part of the Goffman’s essay because it not only shows how little pride one can feel toward their race, but it also shows the extent they would go to try and change that and make themselves as far from their race as possible.

I chose the essay “Black Pride” by Kimbal Goffman because I feel that pride in your race is very important,  and while i was reading it, I was making connections to things that happen all around us. Race pride is important because if you don't have pride in your race then you are basically showing no respect to your culture or yourself. But on the other hand you also have to have respect for others cultures and races because I feel that that is one of the reasons that people are losing pride in their race. I believe people are giving up on race pride because people viewpoints are very negative towards certain race causing people to believe that their race is bad. I think the speech should be read by everyone because it opened my eyes to race pride and how pride in your race is being diminished and I feel that it could open others eyes, too. I feel that if everyone gets the same meaning as I did out of this then there will be less racial conflict. I feel that it is important to have pride in your race because when you have pride in your race I feel that you are also boosting your confidence. Although Goffman’s essay does show much logos, there are definitely some facts in the text.  For instance, she writes about how African Americans created the dance known as the Charleston. But, when Goffman’s sister did the dance, her mother was displeased.  Goffman wanted to know why dancing is commercialized,  but when the black race commercialize their ideas or a dance that black people came up with it becomes bad. Ethos is one of the more used rhetorical modes in this speech. Goffman is very credible because she has experienced her mother telling her sister “You act enough like a nigger now without adding that junk to it.” Her thoughts on that statement was that it denoted race pride and felt it was unnecessary. Another incident that she quotes is “Why are hair-straightening combs found in nearly every Negro? Why is the following remark made so often to a newborn baby, when grandma or auntie visits it for the first time? “Tell Mother she must pinch your nose every morning. If she doesn’t, you’re gonna have a sure ‘nough darky nose.” I feel that she is trying to tell the reader that it is fine to be yourself and to have pride in your race. In her incident she was describing a person or people that were trying to change their appearance to get rid of the unique features a black person has.

Goffman also has a strong appeal to pathos in her essay. For example, she talks about how the young black kid was ashamed of the songs that were being sung in class because they were songs about the days of slaves, and the songs were sung while working on the plantation. She also showed strong disappointment when she heard her Mother say “You act enough like a nigger now without adding that junk to it.” when I read her response to that statement I knew that she felt that the statement that her Mother had made was wrong and denoted race pride. Goffman uses description to express her ideas about race pride. She describes in detail how something happens or things that people say, one example I found in the text was “As long as the following sentences are spoken by ourselves we can not command respect:-

“I wouldn’t marry a dark person.”

“I don’t want a lot of black, nappy-headed children running after me.”

“I like her, but she’s too dark.”

“She’d get some if she wasn’t so dark.”

“She’s got brains, but there ain’t no nigger going to hire anyone that dark, and I know the white folks ain’t.”

“That man’s too black and ugly to be at the door; he’d drive the devil away.”

Those are just some of the descriptive and in depth points that she gives in the speech.  Another description the author gave was when she talked about all the features that define African Americans and how they are unique. She used examples such as “high cheekbones” “large nostrils” “large hands” “large feet” “kinky hair” “thick lips” and “dark skin.” and this, to me shows that you should be proud of you unique feature and not try to change them. Another rhetorical device employed by Goffman is cause and effect. For example, “The next song “Old Folks at Home.” The Negro boy again retreated into the covering of his book. I wondered to myself just what had become of all the race pride he had possessed the day before. The music which described the work and life of his ancestors he considered an insult and embarrassment. It was hard to account for such a sudden turn of character in our little champion of race pride. Perhaps the child had mistaken a case of personal anger for a serious insult to the entire race.”