Disillusionment

The chapter "disillusionment" begins with a quote from Dr. King who states "Let's not fool ourselves, we are far from the promised land, both north and south."  This quote although made in the context of the 1960's is still very relevant today.  We often find ourselves debating in class whether the transition from South to North was worth while and questioning the implications of such a change.  Yet as King pointed out it is foolish to talk in such sweeping and generalizing terms.  Both the North and the South were "far from the promised land"  and to say with complete certainty that one is better than the other is erroneous and negating reality.  I feel that the racial dynamics were obviously much better in the North than South but yet and still black people were still suffering and struggling mightily.  This is still true today, poverty rates in the black community are exorbitantly high in comparison to white counter parts. This fact is true nationwide, black suffering is not simply confined to the North or South.  Once we begin to deal with the suffering in the black community as a national issue the question of whether the North is a panacea to the ills of the south will become irrelevant.

The North

In book there is a lot of talk centered around the north and all of its intricacies.  A particular point of emphasis in regards to the north is its corrupting nature and the abundance of temptation it boasts.   Being from a small town in California I have definitely come to realize that the temptations of the big city are indeed very real and a part of living in the north.  Howard's dropout rate is a testament to this fact, but as i sit and think about those  temptations in the context of someone fleeing oppression in the south to the unknown of the north I can understand why the familial structure remained so strong.  "She was waking up to the ways and the people of the North.  She soon learned that the colored people who had gotten there before her and had assimilated to the city didn't look too kindly upon her innocent ways"(287)  Ida Mae describes her knowledge of the customs of the North as an awakening of sorts.  I feel as if Southerners viewed the temptations of the North as dangers, that were to be avoided at all costs.  They used the lives of already established Northerners as a reference point and clung tighter to their family structure.  I have seen this within myself as well since my arrival in Washington DC, I have an inherent distrust of the city life and always find myself on a phone call with my friends and family back home.  If anything the distance has taught me to appreciate and value the trust and love that was fostered in my small home town.

Black?

Upon his arrival to California, Robert is shocked to find that the notion of black inferiority has seeped into the consciousness of members of his own community.  "The very system that instilled privilege and superiority in southern whites also instilled a sense of inferiority in the colored" (255)    This attitude is unfortunately still very evident today.  We are constantly bombarded with images of white superiority whether it be through aid campaigns or skewed news reporting.  The perpetuation of black inferiority coupled with the abject living conditions of many Blacks in this nation has generated a voracious form of nihilism.  Many begin to hate what it means to be black as evidenced by the rejection of identification with the African diaspora, and astronomical rates of black on black crime.  What Robert experienced on his daily visits to the homes of insured blacks was unfortunately just the tip of the iceberg that is visible without analytical thinking or critical analysis.   Until we begin to demand more positive representation of Blacks in the mass media and begin to critique our cancerous view of black humanity we will continue to suffer at the hands of both white supremacy and one another.  While Robert was eventually able to woe his patients through compassion and dedication, such tactics only work effectively on an individual basis and we find ourselves dealing with the stark realities of a much larger societal problem.

Exodus

We look up at the high southern sky ... We scan the kind black faces we have looked upon since we first saw the light of day, and, though pain is in our hearts, we are leaving. -Richard Wright

As we have seen Wilkerson strategically places a quote before each chapter.  This quote by Wright is one in particular that stood out to me, because it is able to convey so much in so few lines. The first thing that stands out to me is how Wright utilizes the plural voice, indicating that it is a collective experience, the pain experienced by blacks in the apartheid was collective.  He speaks up of looking up at the "high southern sky", which to me indicates a degree of the unobtainable.  The sky is is representative of the ideal  and it has been rendered unreachable.  "The kind black faces" which have become so familiar speaks to how oppression has served to unify and bring the blacks closer together.  The most compelling part of the passage to me is the underlying sense of hurt.  You would think that a people who have experienced so much pain in a region such as the south would begin to loath it and identify it with all that holds them back.  The blacks of the south truly saw it as their home.  The suffering of a people pales in comparison to their enduring hope and love, and that is truly beautiful.

Titles

We come into this life with very little, a name is one of those few items.  To say that names are irrelevant or play little role in defining a person would be fallacious.  The countless painstaking days and months expecting parents spend combing through copious baby name books is a testament to their importance.  Thus Roberts decision to change his name upon his departure to California is just as momentous a moment in life.  "In California, he would be Robert or, better yet, Bob.  Bob with a martini and stingy-brim hat.  It was modern and hip, and it suited the new version of himself as the leading man in his own motion picture."  Roberts name change reflected a shift in paradigm.  An abandonment of all of the past experiences that had composed Robert and an adoption of a new moniker, Bob, and all of the "motion picture"-esque exposure that would come with it.  I feel as if many would misread this as an attempt by Robert to become someone new or forget who he was, and i think they have failed to look further into his reasoning.  The change had already occurred in Robert before the name change, he recognized the abject poverty and decrepit circumstances in which he lived and dreamt of more.  He was mesmerized by the glamour and splendor flashing across the cinema screen and vowed to obtain it.  Robert was consumed by the desire to live as an equal.  By changing his name to Bob, Robert simply acknowledged his dream to become something greater.

Departure

At this point in the book we are seeing the departure of the central characters from their southern homes.  This is very interesting to me, because although their specific reasons for departure defer they are all shrouded in both despair and hope.  Mortified by the brutal beating of her relative Ida Mae finds it necessary to flee the south in order to escape the inhumane societal conditions that would allow such an atrocity to occur. In fleeing the South, Ida Mae is tacitly acknowledging that she has more faith in the unknown of the North than in the ability of Mississippi to change.  The amount of blind faith demonstrated by Ida Mae and her husband led me to question what it would take to get me to leave my home, and i came to the realization that i already have.  I left California to attend Howard University in hopes of procuring a better future.  I had only been to DC once or twice and my experience with the city was limited to the tourist brochures and illustrated maps handed out at the hotel. Now of course my situation is much different from that of Ida Maes and the other people depicted in the book, but to a degree we are all motivated by a desire to do better.  These past few chapters have really highlighted that for me.  Sometimes delving in to the unknown for a better reality is a necessity, and we will see if it pays off for Ida Mae in the next few chapters and for me in the next few years.

The Great Migration

When i think about it the Great Migration, is responsible for my very existence.  I was born in California in 1993 yet i am a product of the Black exodus from the south.  My fathers family is originally from Louisiana but left to settle in San Francisco.  Upon reading The Warmth of Other Suns I cant help but think about my great grandparents who made that same journey and sought to etch out an existence in the West.  The reasons for such a mass migration varied depending on the individual but they can be boiled down to two motivating factors 1. A desire to escape the repressive rigidity of the Southern caste system and 2. A longing to create purpose and meaning.  Although the ways in which racism oppresses blacks in America has become much more covert, I feel that the beauty of the Migration lies in the fact that its still relevant to this day.  I find myself still motivated by the ideals expounded by the Migration, the need to create purpose in a world that has denied my ability to do so. I often feel as if i am looked down upon or seen as less than due to my skin color and that motivates me to be better, just as it motivated others to leave for the North.  We should all study Great Migration and other movements like it for their beauty lies in the eclecticism of all the people involved.