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A moment in the short story “Recitatif” by Toni Morrison, that exposed the issue of race into Twyla and Roberta’s story was the moment that Twyla describes her mom telling her, “she would stop dancing long enough to tell me something important and one of the things she said was that they never washed their hair and they smelled funny.” (1174) In this moment of the story, Twyla’s mom is setting up an idea in which distinguishes them from the others. She uses “they” to refer the other people and with her statements she is implying that the people who are different from them usually do not have good hygiene. As a kid, anything your parents says or tells you will influence your mindset to think the same, therefore, Twyla will be influenced to divide her and the kids who she meets at St. Bony’s. Defining someone by their skin pigmentation is not the only root of racism, but as well as the way people describe others whether if it’s how they look or how they speak. Though, during that moment we are not aware of who is the dark or light complexion character, but this moment can define a racial issue.

In this country being an immigrant or coming from a Hispanic or African American background will make you come across many racial, cultural and socioeconomic challenges. In my personal life, I don’t recall coming across a moment where I faced something like that, nevertheless, as Mexican-American my culture always faces those types of challenges. We are always receiving negative cultural comments, due to us being from a different country. I take pride into my culture and where my family comes from because not every immigrant comes to this country to do defective things, they come here to work and seek a better future and life for themselves and their family. These kinds of issues arose many conflicts to the people who are innocent of things. People start to do hatred acts that affects people who have no fault in this. This is all due to the creation of racism and the way people think and act towards others due to the place they come from, their skin pigmentation and the way they look.

The role screens play in our experience can be very beneficial for our society and during any type of emergencies. I know it is horrifying at times seeing everything going on at times with the news and how they constantly projecting death statistics and the hardship people are going through, but it is fine to take a break from it once in a while. There are positives when it comes to media through this pandemic such as the stories Governor Cuomo talked about how people around the country are sending him masks, this show’s a glimmer of hope and that there are people who care and this act of kindness is symbolic in which they are connected to New York and feel for us. Without the media how would some of these people around the country and perhaps around the world know the struggle New York City is going through? And maybe seeing this through the news might inspire someone to do something positive, lend a hand, try to help out in any way shape or form. Just like those people who were handcrafting masks and sending boxes to the hospitals.

Another positive of the media is that it shows us which politicians are taking responsibility, which of them are the best leader, which of them are actually doing their job and it’s a way to recap and see how the government responded, was it successful? In the story And of Clay Are We Created, the media have all these equipment to document this tragedy and I would say it is horrible that they seem more concerned about their views instead of helping the poor child. But they aren’t all bad as we see Rolf wants to help the little girl Azucena but he can’t, he is doing the best he can. And that’s something I’m sure many of us during the pandemic can relate, where you’re not sure if you can do anything, how can one help? How can we be of use to help resolve the issue or mitigate people’s suffering? One of the best ways to help is following the guidelines and social distancing so you won’t infect others. If I were in the story, I would have projected on the tv screen, URGENT BREAKING NEWS: that’s going to reach the masses, put in the caption below the screen: THIS CHILD IS IN DESPERATE NEED OF HELP, WE NEED A WATER PUMP, CAN ANYONE BRING US ONE. Of course, this doesn’t mean someone might have one, but you never know,  and if that doesn’t work, entice the public with a reward to bring one and help out, the reward would be a certain amount of money in exchange if they bring a water pump.

The newscast in the story should be held to some accountability, I would have had half or more than half of them help in search of a water pump or learn to make one quickly, while the other half continues breaking the story. For the politicians and the government, in my opinion, they have to do something because they are in a position of power, and with their position they have the influence to lead the nation to act in a certain way, to do a certain task, but that doesn’t mean we have to always rely on them. The people have to rely on each other, keep sharing and spreading information, learn and adapt to the situation because sometimes the government takes too long, or they don’t make the best decisions and that is why people have to organize between themselves, their community and businesses to do something to mitigate the issue while tailoring to their strengths.

         “And of Clay are We Created” shows the relationship between a news reporter and young girl as he attempts to free her from the mud she is stuck on in. He stays with her for days up until her unfortunate death. Today, we go through a pandemic ourselves and the hundreds of thousands of people facing the corona virus in our country as it is televised every single day. We connect to suffering far away literally by social distancing. By social distancing we want to prevent suffering and stop the spread of the virus. We have doctors and nurses working countless hours putting their lives on the line. We have every single news channel known to man updating us on the virus every single day. Either we receive positive news that less people are dying and things are starting to open back up, or we hear news of more and more lives being taken and we remain on PAUSE. The roles of these reporting stations also add their input on whether they agree or not with the decisions being made by the governors and the president of the United States. As people continue to die it’s easy to put the blame on these people saying they may not be doing enough or that their decisions are leading to more and more people catching the virus. Politicians and governors have had huge roles in the pandemic as we rely on them hoping they make the best decisions in attempt to slow and moderate the spread of the virus. We ourselves also contribute to the pandemic when we social distance. I myself always wear a mask and gloves wherever I go. There are those out there who don’t have the young strong immune system that I have so I must respect that. With also taking care of myself I always sanitize and wash my hands whenever the opportunity arises. As of anxiety its just the fact of not knowing. No one knows when we will be outside living life to the fullest with those who we love. Everyone will most definitely cherish life a million times more and take nothing for granted. I myself as strange as it may sound can’t wait to get back to face to face classes. Online services are just difficult to cope with and it could be hard to motivate yourself to get up and do the assigned work. Either way I can wait to go to concerts, social settings, and to just see the world again. The media can not go a day without discussing the virus, but it has helped in spreading awareness and assist in donating to the cause. Our fight with corona virus is almost done I feel but it’s not over as we must continue to fight the virus and take huge precautions. Life as we know it will be back to the way it was in no time

               1. Choose a moment in “Recitatif” in which you see the issue of race enter into Twyla and Roberta’s story. Describe the moment, and explain what you think seems to be going on. What issues seem to divide the two characters? Can you identify their racial identities? How?

            The issue and theme of race arises throughout several points throughout the text. Right from the beginning of the text the issue of race arises immediately. Twyla is discomforted of the idea of sharing a room with Roberta. Twyla hadn’t even met Roberta and their relationship couldn’t even start before acknowledging the fact that she had to share a room with a girl from another race. She states that even the thought of sharing a room with someone from another race made her sick to her stomach. Even her mother had her in belief that the race of Robertas people she had smelled funny and never washed their hair. Who knows if Twyla had even met someone of Roberta’s race and she is most definitely pre judging her as she doesn’t even know her at this point of the book. The issue of race divide the two characters at first because they are young and have just met each other and have been previously been told negative things about the other. I feel that Roberta had been black and Twyla white. I could feel the uneasiness of Twyla once is comes to black people, but she is only learning more and more as the book progresses through the different time periods.

2. Toni Morrison’s story explores the challenges of navigating racial/cultural/and socio-economic differences in our personal relationships.  Reflect upon an experience in your own life when you have had to navigate differences of this sort.   Describe the experience. What issues or complications arose?  How were they resolved?

         Growing up my family wasn’t always the wealthiest bunch of people. I moved to queens and attended a high school on a football scholarship. The thing is that this school was a catholic with very rich Caucasian’s. It had been difficult to fit in with my classmates due to the way they carried themselves. We just didn’t relate or have the same luxuries. Kids would bring their expensive backpacks, shoes, and accessories to school. I hadn’t had much where I could just bring to school to show off for a school day. My job was to come to school play football and receive an excellent education. Imagine going to a million sweet 16s and these females expect a gift from you. Its difficult to just offer $50 just for your grand occasion. I was always that kid with $5 on me while my classmates rely on family wealth and money is never an issue. However, I did meet great people and created memories that will last forever but attending this catholic school really showed me what high class people really look like and wealthy individuals and who wouldn’t want that one day for themselves as it also motivates me to be successful as I can for my children so they could live their happiest lives.

When reading this story, I connected the situation of being quarantined to Rolf Carle’s epiphany towards the end of the story. Being quarantined, we are stuck at home only to fill the void with our thoughts. Me personally, with the time I have I tend to overthink situations from the past and think about how things could have been different. Thoughts would come to my head about situations that I forgot even happened. When Rolf was with Azucena, he felt like he was stuck metaphorically like how Azucena was stuck literally. That feeling of being stuck allowed him to remember things from his past that he wanted to forget and not think about. With this time we have, being in quarantine, it allows us to have the time to self reflect and use this time to better ourselves. 

Media was highly examined in the story because that is where the narrator is able to learn about what is happening with the little girl and her boyfriend. Even though she was not physically there, through the media broadcasting what was happening, she felt as if she was there. The story talks about the media in a negative and a positive aspect. In the story, the narrator had portrayed to the readers how the media was able to bring all these equipment with them, but were not able to help transport a pump needed to help the little girl. The media was only there to broadcast the little girl because she would bring more views. However, the media is not all bad because it does allow us to learn what is happening around us. It keeps us informed of things, even if it may be tragic. Especially during this time we are living in, when we turn on the news, all they talk about is the virus, how many people have the virus, how many died, and what the government is doing to “help” the country. Although the screens do not show us the full picture, they give us a glimpse just to keep us aware of the situation. They allow us to be informed but also causes us to worry and stress. During this time of the pandemic, it is useful to have the media keep us informed about the virus, however too much of it causes us to worry because it makes us think if it is possible for things to get better and if we could soon resume normalcy. In the story, the president had come to see Azucena and promised to bring a pump, however, he never did. He was only there for the media to show to the public that he cares. This is like how the president is during this pandemic. He does not care for the people or he would have taken precautions early on. He shows the media that he is working with other officials to help stagnate this pandemic in the country but he is not doing anything to help. He does not wear a mask in public, he does not social distance and when asked questions he brushes them off as if this pandemic is not that serious. As president, he should take more charge to help the public. However, the only government official we see working diligently to help the public is Andrew Cuomo. The media broadcasts him often to allow the public to be more calm and not panic. 

Dealing with this pandemic is very difficult for me. When my parents got sick, I kept remembering about how I saw on the news the number of deaths kept rising. It did not give me any peace of mind and kept making me think negatively. I eventually stopped listening to the news but I would still see things about it on social media. When my parents started to feel better, I still worried because I would see how there could be a second wave of the pandemic and that just because someone gets the virus once does not mean they will not get it again. This fear and worry is still there. I feel as though even if I don’t watch the news on TV, I would still be informed about it through social media. The time we live in, media is everywhere and we cannot really escape it. As of now, I try to keep myself informed about possible vaccines and about the projected time frame of when things can begin to look normal. 

1. Choose a moment in “Recitatif” in which you see the issue of race enter into Twyla and Roberta’s story. Describe the moment, and explain what you think seems to be going on. What issues seem to divide the two characters? Can you identify their racial identities? How?

A moment in “Recitatif” in which I see the issue of race enter into Twyla and Roberta’s story is on page 1774. Twyla’s mother states “that they never washed their hair and they smelled funny. Roberta sure did. Smell funny, I mean.” At this moment, it is implied that Roberta is associated with the group that Twyla’s mother is referring to. The most common reason why people don’t wash their hair is because of race, health, wealth, and culture. I cannot identify their racial identities with this evidence, but I could stereotype this trait back to African Americans because they don’t wash their hair frequently. African Americans don’t wash their hair frequently because there is a risk of it drying out and being brittle. The issue doesn’t seem to divide the two characters for they’re still young and unaware of racial discrimination. 

2. Toni Morrison’s story explores the challenges of navigating racial/cultural/and socio-economic differences in our personal relationships. Reflect upon an experience in your own life when you have had to navigate differences of this sort. Describe the experience. What issues or complications arose? How were they resolved?

My parents being Chinese immigrants means that they hold the utmost importance for their child to honor their ethnicity and inheriting its culture. Being the firstborn of my family only made matters worse because there are higher expectations. At an early age, I was strictly disciplined to act in a matter that brings face to my parents, basically bragging rights. I was strictly monitored for my education and personal life, my parents will be on the constant watch for me. To make matters worse, there is a limited reward for succeeding and punishments for failing their expectations. Very often would my parents compare me to the child of their peers, hurting my self-esteem. I wanted to have a childhood, not one that is pre-planned for me. I became quite rebellious, making all attempts to defy my parents. As I grew older, I became aware that my parents are doing what they can to bring me a better future. The raging flames inside of me had quieted down and I can only see a shadow of my former self. There are many things that I regretted, but I can only do my best to forgo them because the past cannot be changed. Some things about me will never change, but I will change myself to better understand my parents. 

Hi Friends,

My apologies to those of you who had difficulty logging on to our call this afternoon.  There was a problem with my link, and I didn’t realize it until I logged on at 3pm.  In any case, here is the recording of the call:

https://baruch.zoom.us/rec/share/1-Ncf6ja72dIZ6vV-kyGXf4DHJbbeaa8hCZM_6ANzkzyO48SvKePXKpaztzfo1XL Password: 5s^5rC8&

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns as we complete the last few assignments of the semester.

Best,

Professor Sylvor

1. Choose a moment in “Recitatif” in which you see the issue of race enter into Twyla and Roberta’s story.  Describe the moment, and explain what you think seems to be going on.  What issues seem to divide the two characters?  Can you identify their racial identities? How?

A moment that the issue of race enters the story is when Twyla and Roberta were first introduced to each other and Twyla got sick to her stomach because of Roberta. Twyla said, “And Mary, that’s my mother, she was right. Every now and then she would stop dancing long enough to tell me something important and one of the things she said was that they never washed their hair and they smelled funny. Roberta sure did.” Twyla was taught by her mother certain stereotypes at a young age by her mother, and this prejudice towards this particular race about not washing their hair and smelling funny was associated somehow with Roberta and her race, when in reality anyone could smell funny or not wash their hair, it has nothing to do with one’s racial identity. Having this preconceived notion divides Twyla and Roberta because Twyla is being closed-minded for having this attitude towards Roberta, instead of being friends instantly or getting to know Roberta and letting the friendship develop gradually due to Roberta’s personality, and this eventually happens as they became roommates. In this scenario, I cannot identify their racial identities for there isn’t any evidence to come to a definite conclusion because personal hygiene isn’t fixed to any race.  

2. Toni Morrison’s story explores the challenges of navigating racial/cultural/and socio-economic differences in our personal relationships.  Reflect upon an experience in your own life when you have had to navigate differences of this sort.   Describe the experience. What issues or complications arose?  How were they resolved?

I can’t recall personal experiences of navigating these certain challenges perhaps because I repressed those memories and because of my poor memory, but I do remember one time as I was heading to my high school taking the subway every morning as I did, there were these two Spanish teens who were up to no good. Inside this subway cart, they were clearly bullies and calling me names and whatnot, calling me a terrorist, which made me confused because I was not associated with that. Because of my appearance and my skin color, they thought I was middle eastern and Muslim, therefore they automatically assumed I was a terrorist. I thought I was going to have to defend myself eventually and fight these two guys, luckily the situation did not escalate, as I told them that I was Dominican. I could only imagine the terrible experiences Muslims had to endure, the prejudice and stereotypes after 9/11. I wonder since the aftermath of 9/11, did many middle eastern people often have to lie or hide who they were in order to get out of a sticky situation just as in the 20th century, some African Americans wore turbans to pass for Indian to avoid Jim Crow laws. I don’t think people should lump up a whole faith and blame them all for what happened on that day. Even to this day, some people have a serious cautious attitude or dislike when encountering a Muslim, an Arab, or middle eastern person at an airport or at a subway station or anywhere. That is something that might slowly dissolve over time as that fateful day becomes more distant, just as racism in America is slowly dissolving, even though at times it may not seem like it, but there’s been progress as we move further and further away from American slavery’s history.  

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Of course, I had no idea when I included this story about a natural disaster in Colombia on our syllabus that we would be reading Allende’s text against the backdrop of a global pandemic.  In a brief (250-300 word) response, connect your reading of “And of Clay are We Created” to  your experience of our current reality.  Some questions worth pursuing might be:  How do we connect or respond to suffering – whether nearby or far away?  What role do screens play in our experience of this pandemic?  What do they make possible, and what do they obstruct?  What role do politicians and government have in managing this disaster? How have you personally responded to this national disaster?  What issues or anxieties has it brought up for you?  What role do the media play in this unfolding story?

Be sure your responses are posted to our blog by Friday, May 15th.