In the essay “My Mother’s Dreams for Her Son, and All Black Children,” there are countless deep, meaningful quotes. One of those is when Als write, “Standing by my mother’s living-room window, I tried, tentatively, to ask her why our world was burning, burning. She gave me a forbidding look: Boy, be quiet so you can survive, her eyes seemed to say.” The context of this was that there was a protest going on and many cars windows were getting smashes, there was “rubbish on fire,” and stores getting destroyed. Despite this being part of their community, they knew it wasn’t really theirs. This quote shows how dangerous it was. They were hiding in their house, and when he asks his mother why they’re doing this, she gives him a stern look. It’s as if she is saying if you want to survive, don’t get in other peoples’ business, it’s too dangerous, just worry about what you have to do to live.
Another quote from Als that is extremely powerful is “I don’t remember exactly how many times we moved; in those days, my focus was on trying to win people over, the better to protect my family, or—silently—trying to fend off homophobia, the better to protect myself. My being a “faggot” was one way for other people to feel better about themselves. My being a “faggot” let cops know what they weren’t.” I believe that Als is trying to show how he had to constantly watch out for himself. He could never let his guard down, even to the extent that he couldn’t keep track of the amount of times his family moved. I believe he could also be saying it didn’t matter how often they moved, because no matter where they ended up everything was the same. There was constant hatred towards him and he had to be careful wherever he was.
One other piece from the article that really stood out to me is where Als writes, “One way to control unruly, ungovernable refugees, of course, is to remind them that they are guests of a mighty police state.” This quote really hit me, it doesn’t sugarcoat anything about the way blacks were treated. Hilton Als is expressing how it feels to really have no hope to be accepted in what is supposed to be a country for everyone, a land of the free. He says that the government wants black people to know if they ever forget that they don’t belong, a simple way to remind them is to have the police let them know. This of course is a truly horrible thought.
Our law enforcement hasn’t seem to have changed since the Jim Crow era. It really is horrifying to think that many white police officers today still have something against black people and believe they don’t belong here, and they let them know it, as Als said and you elaborated. No one should ever be living in fear because of race, and we’re not so good at erasing those tensions.
I liked your point on how Als has constantly looking after himself. Growing up as a gay African American during that time must’ve been extremely difficult. He must’ve never truly felt part of a community outside of his family. I also agree with your point on how him saying that he lost track of how many times he moved because the situation never changed. Its like he was stuck in an endless cycle of hatred and homophobia.
I thought you gave a good analysis of the first quote explaining how the mindset is to look out for yourself and not to get involved in other’s business. I also think that it shows how serious and dangerous the situation was. The second quote helps one try to understand the hardship of not being able to leave the cycle of hatred because although he was constantly moving, the racism and homophobia followed him. I also thought you made a good point about how America is supposed to be the land of the free but the increase in law enforcement in certain neighborhoods take people’s freedoms away.