Read Online Tears of a Tiger by Sharon M. Draper - Free Book Online
Authors: Sharon M. Draper
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jusâ talkinâ âbout snow!
âWhatâs wrong with white, Gerald?
âNothinâ, Mary Alice. This ainât no personal thing âbout you or any other white person. Iâm just tryinâ to explain a feelinâ I got.
âThat shows a real depth of understanding, Geraldâof the poem, and of some of the larger ideas that the poem touches on. Iâm glad you liked the poem. What did you think, Mary Alice?
âI never really thought about it. But I guess Gerald is right. Sometimes it must be mind-boggling!
âGood. Any other comments? Keisha?
âI like the poem. All of us at one time or another feel like a cinder among the snowflakes. You stand out when you just want to blend in; you get noticed whether you want to or not. But itâs not always racial. In one of my classes, Iâm the only girl. Thatâs just as bad.
âGood point, Keisha.
âMs. Blackwell?
âYes, Andy?
âWhy is that in the literature and poems and everythinâ we read in English class, black usually stands for somethinâ bad and white stands for somethinâ good? The good guys always ride a white horse, and the bad guy is always a black-hearted villain. How come?
âIâm not sure, Andy, but it certainly is apparent in literature. I donât think itâs completely racially motivated, however. The tones of black and white have the greatest amount of contrast between them, therefore writers and poets, who have always dealt with extremes in passion and people, use black and white to create those images of contrast. Can you think of any other example where color is used as a metaphor to express an idea? Or where black is used as a positive and white is used as a negative?
âHow about green with envy?
âYellow fear?
âIcy blue!
âPurple passion!
âRuby red lips!
âHow about white heat?
âOr white as death?
âI know a real weird one. Chocolate is dark, right?
âRight! Brown and luscious!
âEver eat white chocolate? Itâs even better!
âDag! Everything good thatâs dark, they take it and make it white!
âHow about black magic! Is that better than white magic?
âItâs more powerful!
âWell then, what about black gold? Oil! Iâd be rich!
âExcellent, class. As you have shown, color is used all the time to create images in our mind. Itâs society that implants positives or negatives onto certain ideas. You have the option to accept, reject, or change the stereotypes that currently exist.
âHow do you mean?
âOkay, let me give you an example. In Puritan England, about 300 years ago, it was against the law to wear the color red. Anyone caught wearing red would be arrested and probably killed.
âWhy? Thatâs stupid.
âIt wasnât stupid to them. They associated red with the devil and works of evil; therefore, anyone who wore that color must be guilty of evildoing.
âHey, Keisha! You better get rid of that red sweater youâre wearinâ! I heard a police car go by. Iâd be glad to hold it for you.
âShut up, Gerald. You are just used to running from police cars!
âOkay, now, calm down. Let me give you another example of how color bias can be changedâand this one is racial in nature. About twenty to twenty-five years ago, social activists started a campaign to get rid of unfair, negative racial stereotypes. Thatâs when we first started hearing the phrases, âBlack is beautifulâ and âSay it loud, Iâm black and Iâm proud!â Before that, black people in American had been called all sorts of terrible names. And all those thousands of years of the Black Knight and black cats and the blackness of death that people associated with negative ideas were associated with a group of people whose skin happened to be darker than the skin of the folks who seemed to be in charge here. Even Africa was called
âWhatâs wrong with white, Gerald?
âNothinâ, Mary Alice. This ainât no personal thing âbout you or any other white person. Iâm just tryinâ to explain a feelinâ I got.
âThat shows a real depth of understanding, Geraldâof the poem, and of some of the larger ideas that the poem touches on. Iâm glad you liked the poem. What did you think, Mary Alice?
âI never really thought about it. But I guess Gerald is right. Sometimes it must be mind-boggling!
âGood. Any other comments? Keisha?
âI like the poem. All of us at one time or another feel like a cinder among the snowflakes. You stand out when you just want to blend in; you get noticed whether you want to or not. But itâs not always racial. In one of my classes, Iâm the only girl. Thatâs just as bad.
âGood point, Keisha.
âMs. Blackwell?
âYes, Andy?
âWhy is that in the literature and poems and everythinâ we read in English class, black usually stands for somethinâ bad and white stands for somethinâ good? The good guys always ride a white horse, and the bad guy is always a black-hearted villain. How come?
âIâm not sure, Andy, but it certainly is apparent in literature. I donât think itâs completely racially motivated, however. The tones of black and white have the greatest amount of contrast between them, therefore writers and poets, who have always dealt with extremes in passion and people, use black and white to create those images of contrast. Can you think of any other example where color is used as a metaphor to express an idea? Or where black is used as a positive and white is used as a negative?
âHow about green with envy?
âYellow fear?
âIcy blue!
âPurple passion!
âRuby red lips!
âHow about white heat?
âOr white as death?
âI know a real weird one. Chocolate is dark, right?
âRight! Brown and luscious!
âEver eat white chocolate? Itâs even better!
âDag! Everything good thatâs dark, they take it and make it white!
âHow about black magic! Is that better than white magic?
âItâs more powerful!
âWell then, what about black gold? Oil! Iâd be rich!
âExcellent, class. As you have shown, color is used all the time to create images in our mind. Itâs society that implants positives or negatives onto certain ideas. You have the option to accept, reject, or change the stereotypes that currently exist.
âHow do you mean?
âOkay, let me give you an example. In Puritan England, about 300 years ago, it was against the law to wear the color red. Anyone caught wearing red would be arrested and probably killed.
âWhy? Thatâs stupid.
âIt wasnât stupid to them. They associated red with the devil and works of evil; therefore, anyone who wore that color must be guilty of evildoing.
âHey, Keisha! You better get rid of that red sweater youâre wearinâ! I heard a police car go by. Iâd be glad to hold it for you.
âShut up, Gerald. You are just used to running from police cars!
âOkay, now, calm down. Let me give you another example of how color bias can be changedâand this one is racial in nature. About twenty to twenty-five years ago, social activists started a campaign to get rid of unfair, negative racial stereotypes. Thatâs when we first started hearing the phrases, âBlack is beautifulâ and âSay it loud, Iâm black and Iâm proud!â Before that, black people in American had been called all sorts of terrible names. And all those thousands of years of the Black Knight and black cats and the blackness of death that people associated with negative ideas were associated with a group of people whose skin happened to be darker than the skin of the folks who seemed to be in charge here. Even Africa was called
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