Blignaut 1

Silent Dancing

Judith Ortiz Cofer

ENGL-108-13800: Composition with Lab

Professor Barbara Monaghan

February 02, 2014

Blignaut 2 According to modern anthropology, the evolutionary period of Homo-erectus initiated two million years ago. Moving through the Ice-age in and around one hundred and fifty thousand years ago early humans would communicate with simple sounds and gestures as language had not yet developed. Early humans were nomadic; scientists say possibly one and a half millions years ago cooking was used Over time, early humans began to gather at hearths and shelters to eat and socialize. As brains became larger and more complex, growing up took longerrequiring more parental care and the protective environment of a home. Expanding social networks led, eventually, to the complex social lives of modern humans. Smithsonian. (1999)The first recorded civilization was ancient Egypt around 3000 BC and with the rise of many great civilizations, the Caste system became evident and still remains. Ancient Egypt, Babylon, Ancient Greece to the Roman Empire; these civilizations were all built on the Caste system, ipso facto slavery. Modern India has remained true and those who are born into a certain family live a certain destined life-style. The Caste system is the oldest form of social segregation and by association determines social class. In the 1600s Spain along with England, France and Holland fought for the new world. In 1607 the English had colonized 17th century Virginia with the settlement of Jamestown. In 1619 the Dutch brought over the first slaves from Africa and traded them for food and goods. Slavery started in 1619 and was abolished in 1865; it took 246 years to eliminate the Caste system on paper. Being born into slavery a person would have been a minority, had little to no education, grown up poor and oppressed. In the essay written by Edwidge Danticat Westbury Court, the writer tells of how she grew up. Danticat describes her neighborhood as filled with trash and her building well under maintained. The streets filled with residents of the neighborhood and descriptions of theft and murder. In reading this essay the circle of being born into poverty, the low education and the minority is revealed. On August 28, 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King said quote I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. Its been 149 years since the abolishment of slavery and although African-Americans have gained their rightful freedom, its

Blignaut 3 not enough! Segregation is the reason behind social class, and even to this day there are too many short sighted white people who need to realize that we must work together to truly end it. Four hundred and seven years ago the colony of Jamestown was settled by the English to claim the New World. Twelve thousand years ago the nomads of Asia walked the land bridge that is now Alaska. It has been estimated that more than fifty million people had already been living in the Americas prior to the 15th century. One fifth of those natives would make up the United States. During the presidency of John Adams, the estimated population of Native Americans was to be six hundred million, in his term he ordered 90 million removed and by the 1900s 248 million were left. History has many examples of white oppression from ancient empires through colonial times, onto Nazi Germany and South Africa. White people are the majority who have enslaved and stepped on races to live the good life and be well off financially. Using the essay They all just went away written by Joyce Carol Oates, the author uses imagery to show her life as a child. The young author grew up out in the country with her family on a farm. Oates spent her days running around the lands mostly by herself as she was the youngest. Oates tells of her explorations into abandoned houses and the moments of thought for justification as to why they are abandoned as shown in the quote Where a house has been abandoned unworthy of being sold to new tenants, very likely seized by the county for default on taxes and the properly held in escrowyou can be sure there has been a sad story. There have been devastated lives. Lives to be spoken of pityingly. How they went wrong. Why did she marry him, why did she stay with him? Just desperate people. Ignorant. Poor white trash. Runs in the family. A wrong turn. (ln.61)Making a wrong turn or having your house repossessed indicates that those people had a choice and the freedom to grow but did not for varying reasons. Oates was born into a middle-class lifestyle, the farm was owned by her grandmother (ln.58) and the house was filled with a good family. Her father had a good job down at Harrison's, a division of General Motors.(ln.5). Oates has been given the tools so that as she got older would prosper and do far better that her parents. Had Oates been born into a less fortunate

Blignaut 4 lifestyle her odds of prosperity would have been diminished through social and political resistance given that Oates was born June 16, 1938. On May 17th 1954, the Brown vs. Board of Education case was won in front of the Supreme court; ruling that segregation was "inherently unequal." All laws around the country changed however integration of the country was not immediate. The migration from the island reached its peak by 1953. As more immigrants arrived in New York the public perception became increasingly negative. As such Puerto Ricans were seen as leeches on welfare, lazy and drug addicts. The essay written by Judith Ortiz Cofer Silent dancing shows what life was like for immigrants back in the 1950s. World war two had recently ended and the United States showed signs of prosperity. Immigration rates increased bringing hard workers with good values and want of the American dream. Cofer illustrates to us how her father wanted them all to relocate to a better area in the quote It became my father's obsession to get out of the barrio. (ln .37) Along with prosperity comes risk equal to that of a pioneer and the concept of assimilation. Such is the saying When in Rome do as the Romans do. In the 1950s simply due to inequality amongst minorities, assimilation was required in order to succeed. The mother of Judith Ortiz Cofer had very different views in that she did not feel it right to have to give up who they were as a culture. In 2014 inequality and oppression still remains in the Latino culture. In fact in some states there are many who dont know the differences between Latinos, Hispanics and Mexicans. The truth is that there are differences and all three have a wealth of culture to share. Oppression slows the rate of integration, the very idea behind the United States is diversity and yet we are still met with resistance.

In conclusion, the history behind the Caucasian race is very dark. In looking at these essays we have seen the white majority start slavery and segregation which has had a direct impact throughout history on social class. There is proof however that many good changes have occurred such as gay rights, having an African-American president and possibly to come the first female president. Diversity is an ever-evolving, rotating movement of new people and new perspectives in America. While the term may have been largely about blacks at one time, and more recently, Latinos, we find Koreans, Chinese and

Blignaut 5 Filipinos filling up the melting pot. In some areas of the country, as in Michigan, it's the burgeoning Muslim population, or in Minnesota and Ohio, the growing populations of Somalis. Diversity is here to stay. Welcome to the realization of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream. Yet, when King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech, I wonder if he ever envisioned a day when whites in America would actually be the minority. Judging people by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin is altogether as important as it is for blacks. This will become increasingly the case in the decades to come. Integrating whites into the mosaic of American society is an important ideal to embrace, because integration has always been construed as mixing other minorities into a white-dominated world. Whites will become a minority within three decades, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. If this happens as predicted, within little more than one generation, whites will be the largest minority group in America. Anderson, D. (2013, August 22)

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References

Rosenberg, J. (2014). Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes. About.com 20th Century History. Retrieved from http://history1900s.about.com/od/martinlutherkingjr/a/mlkquotes.htm Smithsonian. (1999). Hearths & Shelters. Human Evolution by The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program. Retrieved from http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/behavior/hearths-shelters History. (nd). Native American Cultures. History.com. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/native-american-cultures Shmoop. (2008, November 11). Native American History Statistics. Shmoop.com. Retrieved from http://www.shmoop.com/native-american-history/statistics.html Anderson, D. (2013, August 22). Meet America's emerging minority group -- whites. CNN. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/22/opinion/anderson-white-minority/