DOCSLIB.ORG

Literary Constructs of African American Childhood in the 1930S in American Children’S Literature

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Literary Constructs of African American Childhood in the 1930S in American Children’S Literature LITERARY CONSTRUCTS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN CHILDHOOD IN THE 1930S IN AMERICAN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE Tammy L. Mielke A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Coventry for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy AUGUST 2006 University of Worcester In association with Coventry University Abstract This literary study presents an analysis of literary constructs of African American childhood in the 1930s in American children’s literature. The purpose for such a study is to determine, identify, and analyse the constructions of African American childhood offered in such books. The critical approach employed involves theories based in post structuralism and post colonialism. The literary constructions of African American childhood are influenced by the society in which they were produced; hence this thesis includes a contextualisation of the historical time period in relationship to the works discussed. Furthermore, this thesis considers constructions offered through illustration in equal terms with textual constructions. Representations of African American childhood are also presented through the use of dialect. The position adopted considers dialect as African American patois since such written dialect is pre-proscriptive African American Vernacular English rules. Analysis has been carried out of the ways in which language written in African American patois constructed African American childhood rather than focusing on the linguistic aspects of the written dialect. Finally, four key texts, all written after 1965 and set in the 1930s have been evaluated: Sounder (1970) by William Armstrong, Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry (1976) by Mildred Taylor, Tar Beach (1991) by Faith Ringgold, and Leon’s Story (1997) by Susan Roth. These contemporary writers offered a different view of the 1930s since they are ‘writing back’ into the previously assumed stereotypes. In conclusion, this thesis demonstrates that in the 1930s, positive progression was achieved, bridging ideologies concerning the African American community fostered in the Harlem Renaissance and the search for African American identity for children and adults. While negative stereotypes established before the 1930s were included in some publications, defiance of mainstream views, resistance to overt racism, and a complication of representation of African American childhood is present in American children’s literature in the 1930s. Acknowledgements Table of Contents Preface 1 Chapter One - Introduction: Literary Constructs of African American Childhood in the 1930s in American Writing for Children 4 1.1 Rational 4 1.2 Aims 7 1.3 Methodology 8 1.4 Critical perspective 11 1.4.a Constructing childhood 16 1.4.b Constructing African American childhood 18 1.5 What is “children’s literature?” 20 1.6 Review of Historical Context of African Americans and the 1930s 26 1.6.a The Southern African Americans 26 1.6.b The Great Migration 32 1.6.c The African American Homeland – the City of Harlem 34 1.6.c.1 Harlem’s Great Renaissance 37 1.6.c.2 Harlem’s Population 40 1.6.d The Great Depression 43 1.7 Structure of Thesis 49 Chapter Two: Tom, Sambo, and Remus: Early Literary Constructs in books Constructing African American Childhood 50 2.1 Introduction 50 2.2 Justification of Texts 50 2.3 Production and publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin 54 2.4 Uncle Tom’s Cabin 56 2.5 The Minstrels and their Influences 64 2.6 Topsy and Eva, children of the South 69 2.7 Morphed ‘Uncle Tom’ and Additional Stereotypes 77 2.8 The Story of Little Black Sambo and Its Illustrations 92 2.9 Bannerman and the Sambo debates 93 2.10 Publishing History and Early Responses 96 2.11 Changing Illustrations /Changing Ideologies 101 Chapter Three Constructing African American Childhood in the 1930s 117 3.1 Introduction 117 3.2 The Picture Book 118 3.3 From Identity to Subjectivity in text 121 3.4 Identity through text 128 3.5 Image through Illustration 142 Chapter Four: Representations of Speech and the African American Patois 159 4.1 Introduction 159 4.2 Origins of African American Black English 161 4.3 African American dialect as Patois 166 4.4 Joel Chandler Harris and his Uncle Remus Tales 170 4.5 Paul Lawrence Dubar – Dialect and non-dialect writing 177 4.6 Dialect in Children’s Literature 181 Chapter Five: Defining Larger Spheres of Influence via Literary Constructs of African American Childhood in the 1930 200 5.1 Introduction 200 5.2 Politics and the Construction of African American Childhood 201 5.2 Location and the Construction of African American Childhood 206 5.4 Education and the Construction of African American Childhood 211 5.5 Non-Fiction and the Construction of African American Childhood 220 Chapter Six: The Construction of African American Childhood the 1930s in Literature After the Civil Rights Movement 225 6.1 Introduction 225 6.2 Historic/al Fiction 226 6.3 The Universal Individual’s Coming of Age in Sounder 227 6.4 Family and Community in Mildred Taylor’s Logan books 239 6.5 Changing Focalisers in Taylor’s Mississippi Bridge 251 6.6 Reconstructing the Past in Illustration through Ringgold’s Tar Beach (1991) 256 6.6 Leon’s Story 262 Chapter 7: Conclusion 268 Appendices 280 Appendix 2.1 281 Appendix 2.2 282 Appendix 5.1 283 Appendix 6.1 284 Bibliography 285 Bibliography 1 Primary Sources of the 1930s Listed by Publication Date 286 Primary Sources of the 1930s Listed by Author 2 Primary Sources of the 1930s Listed by Illustrator 2 Primary Sources of the 1930s Listed by Publisher 2 Bibliography 2 Complete Listing 3 CD PowerPoint Presentation: Images of Little Black Sambo Preface When I moved to England in September of 2002 to begin this thesis, I had no realistic idea of the changes I would undertake in order to complete this study. In my mind at that time, I was moving to a country that spoke the same language and had the same sort of government as what I knew. To my way of thinking, completing a research thesis about African American childhood in England would be difficult work but not anything different than what I had already experienced in my academic background. I could not have been more wrong. Little did I realise that I was moving into a foreign culture of which I was not a part. My American background made me very un-British in ways I had not anticipated. There were the ‘little battles’ such as understanding idioms, adjusting to different food - some unknown and some that just tasted different, as well as learning a new method of spelling. There were larger, personal battles. American politics made me unacceptable in certain groups. This was shockingly revealed to me when I was told by a ‘friend’ that America deserved 9-11. For the first time in my life, I was the “other”. I looked American. I sounded American. I acted American. I was labelled before I had the opportunity to demonstrate who I was and how I felt about issues at hand. My nationality - and politics and values - were questioned as soon as someone heard my American accent. Every American policy that was frowned upon in the UK became my fault - from the war in Iraq to the handling of Hurricane Katrina. During the beginning of my transition from life in America to life as a foreigner in Britain, I realised that my personal experience - my life as “the 1 other” - was important to how I needed to approach my research. I could understand to some extent the feelings emanating from such dislocation and marginalisation. This uncomfortable experience, while subtle in comparison to the African American experience, was invaluable for a white middle class female who was undertaking the study African American childhood in the 1930s. I do clearly recognise that there is no direct correlation with the African American experience. I merely state that I felt some echoes of cultural marginalisation and dislocation. However, my personal experience raised a sensitivity through which I could approach literature concerning a culture of which I was not a part. In undertaking this study concerning African American childhood, I have had to question my own past, my own culture and society, including my ‘programming’ and identity. Although there is nothing intrinsic to race, and culture is learned, my position as a critic of this literature involved certain considerations in order to maintain an objective perspective on the literature under analysis, to find ways to speak without speaking for the African American community. As I study the changing constructs of African American childhood, I am ready to question my own assumptions about childhood and race and history and the identity created through this process. In order to question my assumptions, I first needed to learn about culture, specifically African American culture. Extensive reading, which in most cases would be considered outside the narrow scope of this thesis, gave me a glimpse into African American culture, showing me a rich world of tradition and family. Alex Haley’s Roots (1976) made me see the family and 2 personal history of African American life in the United Stated. Richard Write opened my eyes as he learned about the world of the South and the politics of the North in Black Boy (1945). Toni Morrison made me sing in Jazz (1992). The defeats and triumphs in Alice Walker’s The Color Purple (1982) emotionally tied me to a deeper understanding of the black female. The list could go on including W.E.B. Dubois, The Soul of Black Folks (1903), Ralph Emerson’s, The Invisible Man (1947), and Morrison’s The Bluest Eye 1970). Through my readings, I found a new world, rich in culture and tradition.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Source of the Human Malaria Parasite Plasmodium Falciparum
    LETTER coplast, and nuclear gene sequences have shown that all avail- able human P. falciparum sequences are nested within the radiation of gorilla-derived sequences (2), providing compelling Source of the human malaria parasite evidence for a gorilla origin of human P. falciparum. Inclusion Plasmodium falciparum of the new monkey-derived sequence (MO454) does not affect these relationships in any way but, instead, identifies MO454 as a gorilla parasite in a pet monkey (Fig. 1). Thus, the finding The origin of Plasmodium falciparum, the cause of malignant of this single infected pet monkey has no bearing on the origin malaria in humans, has been the subject of much debate since of human P. falciparum. closely related parasites were found in (mostly captive) chim- Although infections with Laverania parasites appear to be panzees, bonobos, and gorillas (reviewed in 1). However, anal- host-specific in the wild (2), human-derived P. falciparum has yses of nearly 3,000 fecal samples from wild-living African apes been detected in captive bonobos (4) and chimpanzees (5), and identified P. falciparum-like parasites only in western gorillas an apparently gorilla-derived parasite has now been found in (Gorilla gorilla), thus pointing to this species as the original a captive monkey (3). Thus, certain ape and human parasites source of human infections (2). Prugnolle et al. (3) have now seem capable of infecting new host species when given the op- reported the amplification of P. falciparum-like sequences portunity. Further surveys of African primates for Plasmodium from the blood of a pet monkey. They propose that this infections are clearly warranted, and it will be important to de- “finding challenges the gorilla origin of the human strains of termine the factors that restrict or permit productive trans- P.
    [Show full text]
  • Curing Narratives: a Contemporary Poetics of Agency
    CURING NARRATIVES: A CONTEMPORARY POETICS OF AGENCY By MELANIE ALMEDER A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 1999 Copyright 1999 by Melanie Almeder ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am greatly indebted to the support of my family and the inspiration of their many ongoing successes: Robert, the brilliant philosopher: Virginia, the brilliant teacher and rescuer of animals: Lisa, the wonderful healer and activist: Chris, the insightful brother and the guardian of environmental good health. I have had the good fortune to work with inspiring teachers and guides at the University of Florida. I only hope Elizabeth Langland knows her importance to her students: she is a model toward which we aspire: a brilliant scholar, an insightful, original, and lucid writer, and a gracious, generous human being. I thank her for all of her time and care. Phil Wegner. Malini Schueller. John Cech. and Sue Rosser have all been generous with their time and comments and have pushed this project toward more complexity and invention. I am grateful to them. I am indebted, as well, to dear friends who have made this project possible with their support, conversation, and affirmation. I am indebted to Lori Amy. bravest of brave, who carefully read chapters, offered rigorous critique, and is a model of fresh, meaningful living and writing methods. Angela Bascik. lucid theorist among us. storyteller, truth teller, discussed this business of "agency" until the ultimate agent himself. Alexander, arrived. Monica Beth Fowler, queen of cameos, patron saint of strays, has reminded me of the myriad day-to-day humor and generosity that heals.
    [Show full text]
  • Good Evening Yankees. This Is Your Japanese Sister and the Voice of Truth That Reaches out to You from the Peacefulness of J
    Military Terms, Abbreviations, Acronyms 1 Thorns of a Rose 1, 2, 4 Did You Know: Stories from Air America 2, 3 Meet the Military: Auschwitz Volunteer 2 The Ride of Your Life (part 2) 3 code for “Lima Sites” which WWII Recruitment Poster 3 were covert sites of the Laotian Civil War in which the US military This Day in Military History 4 conducted clandestine operations abbreviation used for the Rescue Combat Air Patrol, a fight- er force used to protect personnel On the evening of February 18, 1945, empty shelves as public clamors for more sailors and marines of Joint Expedi- on the ground and to conduct air merchandise; workers claim nightclub tionary Force (Task Force 51) are search and rescue operations curfew limits amusement spending. Does tuned in to the only radio program that sound like a people who want war? abbreviation for a series of that they are able to pick up easily so Who are supporting you as you carry on far out at sea. The music is American Soviet anti-aircraft guns used by your sacrificial attempts to carry on this and the most popular of that era. As useless war? Think it over Yankee broth- over 50 countries worldwide Connee Boswell finishes the last strains of “I Can’t Give You Anything ers - they do not want war and they are doing their best to let you know that they : This month’s terms came But Love,” another familiar voice are not behind you in this war. This is from the “Did You Know” article.
    [Show full text]
  • SEPTEMBER Monkey Around with Amazing Animal Antics!
    SEPTEMBER Monkey around with amazing animal antics! How did the monkey make toasted cheese? It put it under the gorilla!!!! Monkeys usually live in family groups or troops and spend most of their day foraging for food, eating and sleeping! Chimpanzees eat fruit, berries, seeds, leaves, insects, honey and birds eggs. They are also skilled and deadly predators and hunt, kill and eat lizards, bush pigs and other monkeys! Chimps have hands like ours with 4 fingers and a short thumb, this means they can grasp and hold things. They are very intelligent and use tools to help them get their food. They use: sticks to dig out insects, like termites from termite mounds stones and rocks like a hammer to crack open hard-shelled nuts long branches to pull down branches of ripe fruit leaves to make sponges, they chew the leaves to make them soft and then use them to soak up water to drink In The Zoo, Belfast, it costs around £300 per week to feed the Chimpanzees with lots of fresh fruit and veg! What’s a monkey’s favourite fruit? Gra-apes!!!! Or maybe they prefer bananas! What is made from two banana skins? A pair of slippers!!!! Play some feeding-time fruity fun games! Who’s the Zoo Keeper? Equipment: 3 plastic or cardboard bananas o Choose 3 Beavers to be Zoo keepers and give each a banana o The remainder of the Colony are very hungry monkeys! Sitting in a circle on the floor, they make monkey noises, raise one arm and close their eyes o Choose only one Zoo keeper to give a monkey a banana! o Then the 3 Zoo keepers place their hands behind their backs, the ‘monkeys’ open their eyes and the one holding the banana has to guess which Zoo keeper ‘fed them’! The ‘monkey’ can only guess once, if correct the monkey and Zoo keeper change places.
    [Show full text]
  • Better Than White Trash": Work Ethic, Latinidad and Whiteness in Rural Arkansas
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Otterbein University Otterbein University Digital Commons @ Otterbein Sociology Faculty Scholarship Sociology 2012 "Better Than White Trash": Work Ethic, Latinidad and Whiteness in Rural Arkansas Miranda Cady Hallett Otterbein University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.otterbein.edu/socio_fac Part of the Anthropology Commons, and the Sociology Commons Repository Citation Hallett, Miranda Cady, ""Better Than White Trash": Work Ethic, Latinidad and Whiteness in Rural Arkansas" (2012). Sociology Faculty Scholarship. 2. https://digitalcommons.otterbein.edu/socio_fac/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Sociology at Digital Commons @ Otterbein. It has been accepted for inclusion in Sociology Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Otterbein. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Original Article “Better than White trash”: Work ethic, Latinidad and Whiteness in rural Arkansas Miranda Cady Hallett Otterbein University, OH Abstract Diverse sites in the US South are being transformed by “new Latino immigration.” Rather than being a homogeneous process, experiences of migrant settlement are shaped by the racialized social worlds of particular historical social communities – and may in turn transform local racial formations (Winders, 2005). In one small town in rural Arkansas, Latina and Latino migrants perform boundary work (Lamont, 2000; Hartigan, 2010), constructing their identities as “good” workers and neighbors. Although migrants assert belonging and dignity by framing themselves as “better than White trash,” nonetheless this belonging is predicated on the reproduction of racial and class hierarchy as well as conformity to the structural demands of neoliberal capitalism.
    [Show full text]
  • Stories Matter: the Complexity of Cultural Authenticity in Children's Literature (Pp
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 480 339 CS 512 399 AUTHOR Fox, Dana L., Ed.; Short, Kathy G., Ed. TITLE Stories Matter: The Complexity of CulturalAuthenticity in Children's Literature. INSTITUTION National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana,IL. ISBN ISBN-0-8141-4744-5 PUB DATE 2003-00-00 NOTE 345p. AVAILABLE FROM National Council of Teachers ofEnglish, 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana,.IL 61801-1096 (Stock no. 47445: $26.95members; $35.95 nonmembers). Tel: 800-369-6283 (Toll Free); Web site: http://www.ncte.org. PUB TYPE Books (010).-- Collected Works General (020) -- Opinion Papers (120) EDRS PRICE EDRS Price MF01/PC14 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Childrens Literature; *Cultural Context; ElementaryEducation; *Literary Criticism; *Multicultural Literature;Picture Books; Political Correctness; Story Telling IDENTIFIERS Trade Books ABSTRACT The controversial issue of cultural authenticity inchildren's literature resurfaces continually, always elicitingstrong emotions and a wide range of perspectives. This collection explores thecomplexity of this issue by highlighting important historical events, current debates, andnew questions and critiques. Articles in the collection are grouped under fivedifferent parts. Under Part I, The Sociopolitical Contexts of Cultural Authenticity, are the following articles: (1) "The Complexity of Cultural Authenticity in Children's Literature:Why the Debates Really Matter" (Kathy G. Short and Dana L. Fox); and (2)"Reframing the Debate about Cultural Authenticity" (Rudine Sims Bishop). Under Part II,The Perspectives of Authors,
    [Show full text]
  • VMI Men Who Wore Yankee Blue, 1861-1865 by Edward A
    VMI Men Who Wore Yankee Blue, 1861-1865 by Edward A. Miller, ]r. '50A The contributions of Virginia Military Institute alumni in Confed­ dent. His class standing after a year-and-a-half at the Institute was erate service during the Civil War are well known. Over 92 percent a respectable eighteenth of twenty-five. Sharp, however, resigned of the almost two thousand who wore the cadet uniform also wore from the corps in June 1841, but the Institute's records do not Confederate gray. What is not commonly remembered is that show the reason. He married in early November 1842, and he and thirteen alumni served in the Union army and navy-and two his wife, Sarah Elizabeth (Rebeck), left Jonesville for Missouri in others, loyal to the Union, died in Confederate hands. Why these the following year. They settled at Danville, Montgomery County, men did not follow the overwhelming majority of their cadet where Sharp read for the law and set up his practice. He was comrades and classmates who chose to support the Common­ possibly postmaster in Danville, where he was considered an wealth and the South is not difficult to explain. Several of them important citizen. An active mason, he was the Danville delegate lived in the remote counties west of the Alleghenies where to the grand lodge in St. Louis. In 1859-1860 he represented his citizens had long felt estranged from the rest of the state. Citizens area of the state in the Missouri Senate. Sharp's political, frater­ of the west sought to dismember Virginia and establish their own nal, and professional prominence as well as his VMI military mountain state.
    [Show full text]
  • North Carolina Digital Collections
    North Carolina suggestions for apply- ing the social studies ©IiF IGtbrarg nf thf llntorsitij nf Nnrtlt (Uarnlttia Plyilantltrnjiif ^nmtira NORTH CAROLINA SUGGESTIONS FOR APPLYING THE SOCIAL STUDIES Issued by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction Raleigh, North Carolina THE STATE FLAG The model of the flag as used today was adopted in 188 5. It consists of a blue union containing in the center thereof a white star with the letter N in gilt on the left and the letter C in gilt on the right of the star. The fly of the flag consists of two equally proportional bars, the upper bar red and the lower bar white. The length of these bars is equal to the perpendicular length of the union, and the total length of the flag is one-third more than its width. Above the star in the center of the union is a gilt scroll in semi-circular form, containing in black the inscription: "May 20, 1775," and below the star is a similar scroll containing the inscription: "April 12, 1776." This first date was placed on the flag to mark the signing of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. The second date marks the day on which the Halifax Convention empowered the North Carolina members of the Continental Congress to concur with the delegates of the other colo- nies in declaring independence. Publication No. 217 NORTH CAROLINA SUGGESTIONS FOR APPLYING THE SOCIAL STUDIES Issued by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction Raleigh, North Carolina 1939 Bayard Wootten. HAYES The former home of Samuel Johnston, Revolutionary leader, Governor, and United States Senator, is located at Edenton.
    [Show full text]
  • Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature
    Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Erich Poncza The Impact of American Minstrelsy on Blackface in Europe Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A. 2017 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………….. Author’s signature 1 I would like to thank my supervisor Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A. for his guidance and help in the process of writing my bachelor´s theses. 2 Table of Contents Introduction……………………………………………………………..………....……5 1. Stereotyping………………………………………..…….………………..………….6 2. Origins of Blackface………………………………………………….…….……….10 3. Blackface Caricatures……………………………………………………………….13 Sambo………………………………………………………….………………14 Coon…………………………………………………………………….……..15 Pickaninny……………………………………………………………………..17 Jezebel…………………………………………………………………………18 Savage…………………………………………………………………………22 Brute……………………………………………………….………........……22 4. European Blackface and Stereotypes…………………………..……….….……....26 Minstrelsy in England…………………………………………………………28 Imagery………………………………………………………………………..31 Blackface………………………………………………………..…………….36 Czech Blackface……………………………………………………………….40 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….44 Images…………………………………………………………………………………46 Works Cited………………………………………………………………….………..52 Summary………………………………………………………….……………………59 Resumé……………………………………………………………………..………….60 3 Introduction Blackface is a practice that involves people, mostly white, painting their faces
    [Show full text]
  • A Historical and Phonetic Study of Negro Dialect. T
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1937 A Historical and Phonetic Study of Negro Dialect. T. Earl Pardoe Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Part of the Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons Recommended Citation Pardoe, T. Earl, "A Historical and Phonetic Study of Negro Dialect." (1937). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 7790. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/7790 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A Historioal and phonetic Study of Negro Dialect* A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Dootor of Philosophy in Louisiana State University* By T. Earl pardoe 1937 UMI Number: DP69168 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI Dissertation Publishing UMI DP69168 Published by ProQuest LLC (2015). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProOuest ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O.
    [Show full text]
  • African-Americans, American Jews, and the Church-State Relationship
    Catholic University Law Review Volume 43 Issue 1 Fall 1993 Article 4 1993 Ironic Encounter: African-Americans, American Jews, and the Church-State Relationship Dena S. Davis Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.edu/lawreview Recommended Citation Dena S. Davis, Ironic Encounter: African-Americans, American Jews, and the Church-State Relationship, 43 Cath. U. L. Rev. 109 (1994). Available at: https://scholarship.law.edu/lawreview/vol43/iss1/4 This Essay is brought to you for free and open access by CUA Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Catholic University Law Review by an authorized editor of CUA Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. IRONIC ENCOUNTER: AFRICAN-AMERICANS, AMERICAN JEWS, AND THE CHURCH- STATE RELATIONSHIP Dena S. Davis* I. INTRODUCTION This Essay examines a paradox in contemporary American society. Jewish voters are overwhelmingly liberal and much more likely than non- Jewish white voters to support an African-American candidate., Jewish voters also staunchly support the greatest possible separation of church * Assistant Professor, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. For critical readings of earlier drafts of this Essay, the author is indebted to Erwin Chemerinsky, Stephen W. Gard, Roger D. Hatch, Stephan Landsman, and Peter Paris. For assistance with resources, the author obtained invaluable help from Michelle Ainish at the Blaustein Library of the American Jewish Committee, Joyce Baugh, Steven Cohen, Roger D. Hatch, and especially her research assistant, Christopher Janezic. This work was supported by a grant from the Cleveland-Marshall Fund. 1. In the 1982 California gubernatorial election, Jewish voters gave the African- American candidate, Tom Bradley, 75% of their vote; Jews were second only to African- Americans in their support for Bradley, exceeding even Hispanics, while the majority of the white vote went for the white Republican candidate, George Deukmejian.
    [Show full text]
  • 'Chinee' in Uncle Remus and a Minstrel Picture Book
    Research on Diversity in Youth Literature Volume 3 Issue 1 Minstrelsy and Racist Appropriation Article 4 (3.1) and General Issue (3.2) April 2021 Scenes of Slavery and the 'Chinee' in Uncle Remus and a Minstrel Picture Book Caroline H. Yang University of Massachusetts, Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://sophia.stkate.edu/rdyl Part of the African American Studies Commons, American Literature Commons, Asian American Studies Commons, Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons, Ethnic Studies Commons, Literature in English, North America Commons, and the Literature in English, North America, Ethnic and Cultural Minority Commons Recommended Citation Yang, Caroline H. (2021) "Scenes of Slavery and the 'Chinee' in Uncle Remus and a Minstrel Picture Book," Research on Diversity in Youth Literature: Vol. 3 : Iss. 1 , Article 4. Available at: https://sophia.stkate.edu/rdyl/vol3/iss1/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by SOPHIA. It has been accepted for inclusion in Research on Diversity in Youth Literature by an authorized editor of SOPHIA. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Yang: Scenes of Slavery and the 'Chinee' in Uncle Remus and a Minstrel In the June 1889 issue of Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, the magazine’s literary editor Laurence Hutton wrote an homage to the white American actors and songwriters of blackface minstrelsy since the 1830s called “The Negro on the Stage.” He eulogized that the minstrels had made “the world happier and brighter for a time by their public careers, and they have left a pleasant and a cheerful memory behind them” (144).
    [Show full text]