Alisha Hough
Professor. Patrick Hendricks
English 111C
27 January 2015
Stay in your Lane I think acceptance of differences should be embraced and celebrated with any creed or race. Do not ever feel ashamed and embarrassed of yourself – class, race, identity, or other’s opinions or actions on such matters. These issues are the inspiration for my writing, in respect towards author Maya, Angelou. “Champion of the World” (Angelou 104-07) & author Amy Tan “Fish Cheeks” (Tan 110-11). I think these women offered a lot in their stories about the way you suppose of yourself, the characteristics they see of themselves, and also how their worlds seen of them (others within their lives). I will share my voice and perspective with argument and persuasion, on the works of, authors Amy Tan and Maya Angelou who I admire, for lessons both stories evokes myself (readers) to gain. In “Champion of the World” Angelou brings her story together in a scene inside a store where folks gathered to a live radio broadcast of a boxing fight between a black heavy weight champeen [sic] and a white contender. The folks inside the store listening to the announcer of the fight are packed from wall to wall – both white and blacks are among this audience is my understanding of this crowd. Angelou, story offers a lot of general statements that aren’t offering a complete understanding to the context, but is more of a reflection of her worries she has of herself (black race), due to the whites, who have ingrained prejudices & stereotypes about her and her kind (blacks). For instance Angelou states:
If Joe lost we were back in slavery and beyond help. It would all be true, the accusations that we were lower types of human beings. Only a little higher than apes. True that we were stupid and ugly and lazy and dirty and, unlucky and worst of all, that God Himself hated us and ordained us to be hewers of wood and drawers of water, forever and ever, world without end (Angelou 106).
I gather a great sense she believed this was true about herself and those people of her same color. “While most research on prejudice has focused on how people's negative stereotypes contribute to intolerance, new research by Princeton University's Susan Fiske, PhD, indicates that emotions such as pity, envy, disgust and pride may play a bigger role” (Chamberlin). I feel Angelou needed to take the many references of stereotypes and prejudice and merit her and her race as worthy people – the worry about Joe losing is understandable, but Joe is known winning, in fact is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. It seems to go without disagreeing that Angelou felt ashamed and embarrassed about herself, her black race, class, and identity she consumed based on the white’s opinion. In “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan brings her story together in a Christmas Eve dinner at her house – when that winter she turned fourteen (Tan 110). The characters of this story are two different races with various different cultures, but not religions. Tan starts of informing readers about falling in love with the son, of the minister, whose entire family has been invited over for Christmas Eve dinner (Tan 110). Tan offers a lot of reference to stereotypes that are associated with her own feelings to her Chinese race – rather than the other race (American) characters belief or voice. Tan would state:
What would Robert think of our shabby Chinese Christmas? What would he think of our noisy Chinese relatives who lacked proper American manners? What terrible disappointment would he feel upon seeing not a roasted turkey and sweet potatoes but Chinese food?
Tan was reflecting her worries she has of herself (Chinese race) – not so much or at all of American guests. I can assume that Tan gained this identity of her Chinese race in previous devaluing manner, by another American who was prejudice and placed such stereotypes on her. Tan needs merit her Chinese race – not implement issues known with pride,
