Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Genetic Comparison
As we discussed the genetic differences between ethnicities, I thought I'd be relevant to show how my genes compare with an "average" Nigerian. The genetic comparison we saw in the documentary was sort of misleading because it used mitochondrial DNA, which is only passed though the maternal line. This means that it excluded paternal ancestry and included information about genetic material that doesn't determine our traits. Nevertheless genetic comparisons of "22 autosomal chromosomes, which means all the chromosomes except for the sex chromosomes (X and Y) and the mitochondrial DNA," according to genetic testing I used, shows that there aren't many differences between me and a Nigerian.
The results show that I'm 69.07% similar to an average Nigerian and even more similar in many specific traits like BMI, endurance or immune system. The only trait that is less similar is pigmentation or skin color, and it's still very similar. Using this tool I can also compare myself with my parents, and an average Chinese or Japanese person. I'm 84.93% similar to my mom, 84.87% to my dad, 71.60% to a Chinese person and 71.61% to a Japanese person. As Sub-Saharan Africans were isolated from the rest of humans through the last thousands of years, it is expected that their traits be somewhat different. These results shows that the small genetic differences between me, mostly White, and an African, or other people, don't really suggest that race, or human subspecies, exist but rather that humans simply have different traits.
The results show that I'm 69.07% similar to an average Nigerian and even more similar in many specific traits like BMI, endurance or immune system. The only trait that is less similar is pigmentation or skin color, and it's still very similar. Using this tool I can also compare myself with my parents, and an average Chinese or Japanese person. I'm 84.93% similar to my mom, 84.87% to my dad, 71.60% to a Chinese person and 71.61% to a Japanese person. As Sub-Saharan Africans were isolated from the rest of humans through the last thousands of years, it is expected that their traits be somewhat different. These results shows that the small genetic differences between me, mostly White, and an African, or other people, don't really suggest that race, or human subspecies, exist but rather that humans simply have different traits.
Socially Constructed Divisions
I understand more of Booker T. Washington, once an isolated APUSH figure, as I relate his ideas to Song of Solomon. Morrison and Washington share some ideas as seen by comparing her book and "Cast Down Your Bucket Where You Are," a speech by the later. While each work gets into specifics not completely related, the main points behind both are very similar, like the idea that racial divisions are created by society and that they must be destroyed for people to have equal opportunities.
In Song of Solomon, a rich African American family is isolated from the upper class because of their color while differentiated from poor African Americans because of their money. The stereotypes that classified people into rich Whites or poor Blacks left the Dead family in an undefined spot of society. Throughout the book each family member struggles to find his or her place in society because of the stratifying ideas implanted in their thoughts. Macon Sr is obsessed with having a family that behaves in a high-class manner. Ruth doesn't truly get along neither with white upper class women nor with poor African Americans. The children of these two struggle to find a way to live as they don't fit in mainstream stereotypes and are perplexed by their parents and their ideas about status in society. As a result of the social ideas of the parents, their children become incompatible with society and fail according to their standards. Neither of the daughters can get married and Milkman just wants to get away. Because of the strict classifying ideas of society, the children were excluded from some groups and didn't fully fit in anywhere. While not being a member of a specific group can be bad, the book also shows how social divisions affected most African Americans. As people discriminate because of the color of the skin, many other characteristics are oversimplified into being features of a race. Morrison shows that many characteristics of people are falsely attributed to the fallacious idea of race.
Booker T. Washington's speech is much more political but it shares Morrison's ideas about race. He says, "No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. It is at the bottom of life we must begin, and not at the top. Nor should we permit our grievances to overshadow our opportunities." The previous quotation shows that the false distinctions created by the idea of race keep people from prospering. If someone concretely divides White roles from Black roles in society, slavery or unfair labor conditions are created. Race is a fallacy as it assumes that traits shared by a group of people similar in color are an effect of this. By socially constructing these differences between Blacks and Whites, discrimination begins to happen. Washington suggests that we get rid of those differences by having similar opportunities and forgiving bad aspects of this erroneous differentiation as obsessing about discrimination towards a specific group might lead to acknowledge that the group exists. He ends the speech promoting "absolute justice" and the "blotting out of sectional differences" because the differences should exist.
Both Morrison and Washington subtly or directly show that the existence of race is damaging to society. Race is a many questions fallacy, one "in which two or more issues get merged into one," using Thank You For Arguing's definition. Undoubtedly there are people with different tones of skin, which does have a biological basis, but this doesn't mean that there are two distinct groups of humans. Washington does concede to the idea of race by asking employers to hire African Americans instead of European immigrants, but the basis for his argument isn't about racial differences but instead about socioeconomic difference (his arguments apply also to poor White Americans). The issue of discrimination, as seen in these two works issued almost a century apart, comes from the existence of the idea of race.
In Song of Solomon, a rich African American family is isolated from the upper class because of their color while differentiated from poor African Americans because of their money. The stereotypes that classified people into rich Whites or poor Blacks left the Dead family in an undefined spot of society. Throughout the book each family member struggles to find his or her place in society because of the stratifying ideas implanted in their thoughts. Macon Sr is obsessed with having a family that behaves in a high-class manner. Ruth doesn't truly get along neither with white upper class women nor with poor African Americans. The children of these two struggle to find a way to live as they don't fit in mainstream stereotypes and are perplexed by their parents and their ideas about status in society. As a result of the social ideas of the parents, their children become incompatible with society and fail according to their standards. Neither of the daughters can get married and Milkman just wants to get away. Because of the strict classifying ideas of society, the children were excluded from some groups and didn't fully fit in anywhere. While not being a member of a specific group can be bad, the book also shows how social divisions affected most African Americans. As people discriminate because of the color of the skin, many other characteristics are oversimplified into being features of a race. Morrison shows that many characteristics of people are falsely attributed to the fallacious idea of race.
Booker T. Washington's speech is much more political but it shares Morrison's ideas about race. He says, "No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. It is at the bottom of life we must begin, and not at the top. Nor should we permit our grievances to overshadow our opportunities." The previous quotation shows that the false distinctions created by the idea of race keep people from prospering. If someone concretely divides White roles from Black roles in society, slavery or unfair labor conditions are created. Race is a fallacy as it assumes that traits shared by a group of people similar in color are an effect of this. By socially constructing these differences between Blacks and Whites, discrimination begins to happen. Washington suggests that we get rid of those differences by having similar opportunities and forgiving bad aspects of this erroneous differentiation as obsessing about discrimination towards a specific group might lead to acknowledge that the group exists. He ends the speech promoting "absolute justice" and the "blotting out of sectional differences" because the differences should exist.
Both Morrison and Washington subtly or directly show that the existence of race is damaging to society. Race is a many questions fallacy, one "in which two or more issues get merged into one," using Thank You For Arguing's definition. Undoubtedly there are people with different tones of skin, which does have a biological basis, but this doesn't mean that there are two distinct groups of humans. Washington does concede to the idea of race by asking employers to hire African Americans instead of European immigrants, but the basis for his argument isn't about racial differences but instead about socioeconomic difference (his arguments apply also to poor White Americans). The issue of discrimination, as seen in these two works issued almost a century apart, comes from the existence of the idea of race.
Dangling Modifiers
As I read the NYT style manual editor, I quickly recognized the dangling modifiers in some of the sentences. A lot of times studying or preparing specifically for a test can be detrimental but in many cases some of the knowledge actually does stay in your mind. When practicing for the SAT, I usually didn't learn new things but rather became more proficient or faster in them. However, for the writing section I did have to learn some grammar rules because I often say or hear grammatically wrong things. Even if those mistakes don't really affect what I'm communicating and I usually correct them if I have time to go over my writing, I didn't want them to affect my chances of getting into a good college. Some of these grammar mistakes I usually did are dangling modifiers, but, hopefully, I've learned and stopped doing them. These are phrases that modify another thing or phrase that are not the ones that should be. The NYT article uses this example:
But on Saturday, traveling in Zabul Province in southern Afghanistan on a day trip to deliver books to schoolchildren, Ms. Smedinghoff’s promisewas cut short by a Taliban car bomb.
Although the idea is communicated, for the sake of clarity it is important to revise the sentence. Originally I learned the rules about dangling modifiers to identify them as mistakes in the SAT writing section but I think (or hope) that now I'm applying them to my writing. Tests can be a good way to learn.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Meaning
Before I continue reading I decided that I should look up the most evident and important allusions that aren't explained in the novel
Ruth
Like many other ones on the book, Ruth is a biblical name. Meaning companion in Hebrew, the name fits the character's role in the novel. In the Book of Ruth in the Bible, Ruth tells her mother-in-law that "Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay." In Song of Solomon, Ruth marries Macon and, although they kind of hate each other, she remains his oppressed and obedient wife. In both cases Ruth represents faithfulness, but Morrison shows it in a bad way.
Pilate
Named accidentally after the procurator of Jesus trial, Macon's sister so far is a figure of bad influence in the book. Macon doesn't let his children know anything about her because she is a snake. She hasn't done anything in particular to make him hate her but he says her way of being is enough. Pilate's name also shows how African Americans' disadvantages, in this case education, stick to them through life. Her dad picked a name at random of the bible and unluckily chose the name of a traitor. Even though her name might mean that she's a bad influence, as Milkman gets to know her it seems more like it might represent that she was unfairly troubled since her birth, like Blacks were treated badly although they didn't do anything.
First Corinthians
First Corinthians contains some of the most famous phrases of the New Testament. In the novel, she's the only one of the family that went to college, so Morrison perhaps used her name to show her knowledge. Some important quotations from the Bible book include "all things to all men," "without love, I am nothing" and "when I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I though as a child," all which relate to Morrison's thoughts. The book clearly comments on inequality and discrimination, feminism and growing up, reflected by these quotations respectively.
Magdalene called Lena
Named after Mary Magdalene, Milkman's sister will probably represent either something controversial or support. In "history," she was suspected to be a prostitute, Jesus' lover or wife and/or another disciple. She helped him along his life, making her one of the most important women in the Bible. I haven't noticed so far how the biblical story might relate to the novel's character but I thought it's probably useful to have this possible allusion in mind.
Hagar
All the controversy going on with Islam and jihad is Hagar's fault. Apparently she gave birth to Abraham's first son, as she was his slave and his wife couldn't have children, but then his wife had another child. The brotherly fight between Ishmael, Hagar's son, and Isaac created two religions. In Song of Solomon, Hagar is Pilate's granddaughter and Milkman's crush. I have yet to see how Hagar's symbolic tale, which I oversimplified, relates to the novel.
Vocabulary:
Ruth
Like many other ones on the book, Ruth is a biblical name. Meaning companion in Hebrew, the name fits the character's role in the novel. In the Book of Ruth in the Bible, Ruth tells her mother-in-law that "Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay." In Song of Solomon, Ruth marries Macon and, although they kind of hate each other, she remains his oppressed and obedient wife. In both cases Ruth represents faithfulness, but Morrison shows it in a bad way.
Pilate
Named accidentally after the procurator of Jesus trial, Macon's sister so far is a figure of bad influence in the book. Macon doesn't let his children know anything about her because she is a snake. She hasn't done anything in particular to make him hate her but he says her way of being is enough. Pilate's name also shows how African Americans' disadvantages, in this case education, stick to them through life. Her dad picked a name at random of the bible and unluckily chose the name of a traitor. Even though her name might mean that she's a bad influence, as Milkman gets to know her it seems more like it might represent that she was unfairly troubled since her birth, like Blacks were treated badly although they didn't do anything.
First Corinthians
First Corinthians contains some of the most famous phrases of the New Testament. In the novel, she's the only one of the family that went to college, so Morrison perhaps used her name to show her knowledge. Some important quotations from the Bible book include "all things to all men," "without love, I am nothing" and "when I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I though as a child," all which relate to Morrison's thoughts. The book clearly comments on inequality and discrimination, feminism and growing up, reflected by these quotations respectively.
Magdalene called Lena
Named after Mary Magdalene, Milkman's sister will probably represent either something controversial or support. In "history," she was suspected to be a prostitute, Jesus' lover or wife and/or another disciple. She helped him along his life, making her one of the most important women in the Bible. I haven't noticed so far how the biblical story might relate to the novel's character but I thought it's probably useful to have this possible allusion in mind.
Hagar
All the controversy going on with Islam and jihad is Hagar's fault. Apparently she gave birth to Abraham's first son, as she was his slave and his wife couldn't have children, but then his wife had another child. The brotherly fight between Ishmael, Hagar's son, and Isaac created two religions. In Song of Solomon, Hagar is Pilate's granddaughter and Milkman's crush. I have yet to see how Hagar's symbolic tale, which I oversimplified, relates to the novel.
Song of Solomon
Song of Solomon is the last book of the Old Testament, one that talks about love and sex. AKA the Song of Songs, this book or song is supposed to be one of the greatest. It also comments on the relationship between God and Israel. As in the last names I've mentioned, the title's meaning isn't clear still. I guess I'll write a blog post about it later.
_____________________________________________
- Bereft: deprived or lacking something.
- Stout: fat or heavy built/brave and determined.
- Lilt: pleasant sound or accent.
- Sturdy: strongly and solidly built.
- Lithe: thin and graceful.
- Hearse: vehicle for carrying a coffin to a funeral.
- Pique: feeling of irritation or resentment.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Family Life
In my previous blog post I briefly mentioned gender roles, an issue that related to the way we act within our family. Morrison is clearly commenting on the problems of society (well, as most authors do), further than just about racism. A defined family structure might have its benefits, but as the book shows wanting an ideal lifestyle creates a problem as everyone has his or her own version of it. By showing Macon's frustration about family relationships, Morrison comments on the importance of family
So far, the author has contrasted the loose organization of Pilate's home with Macon's old-fashioned style. Both versions of family seem rudimentary for twenty-first century standards, but it is important to see how each came to be.
On one side, Macon tries to have a patriarchal home. He acts, and is, the leader and center of the household. Milkman grows up disliking his father yet bound to him probably because of his strict personality. As a child he wanted his father to explain things to him and communicate with him, but all he got was exclusion. As Milkman grew up, he began to love his father while holding a grudge for him. Eventually, he gets angry enough at him and hits him after Macon hit his mother. The fact that only Milkman stood up to her after years of fighting shows that only men could afford to do that in their family or even in their society. Even though Ruth probably contributed to their wealth and had enough power to shake him up, Macon represents oppressive men that, despite his reasons for being like that, impede women from progressing. Morrison shows his machismo, the narrator says, "Milkman looked at his sisters. He had never been able to really distinguish them (or their roles) from his mother" (pg. 68). As Macon raised Milkman in a misogynist way, his son came to the point where he barely thought about his mother. Macon Dead's family represents the old-fashioned misogynist family that has been twisted by the situation of African Americans.
Meanwhile, Pilate has a completely different family life. She's a grandmother at a young age because both, her and her daughter, had early pregnancies. Neither of them got married and lived in a way that embarrassed Pilate's brother. Although Macon is rich and his family lives comfortably, Pilate's family seems happier. She sits with her daughter and granddaughter to make their fruit wine, which they won't sell much, and sing in harmony, enjoying the moment even though everything seems to be doing badly. Pilate doesn't get to live in one of the best houses in their town nor is married to one of the richest men, but she is freer and happier than Ruth, her sister-in-law. Morrison suggests that discrimination is worse than poverty.
So far, the author has contrasted the loose organization of Pilate's home with Macon's old-fashioned style. Both versions of family seem rudimentary for twenty-first century standards, but it is important to see how each came to be.
On one side, Macon tries to have a patriarchal home. He acts, and is, the leader and center of the household. Milkman grows up disliking his father yet bound to him probably because of his strict personality. As a child he wanted his father to explain things to him and communicate with him, but all he got was exclusion. As Milkman grew up, he began to love his father while holding a grudge for him. Eventually, he gets angry enough at him and hits him after Macon hit his mother. The fact that only Milkman stood up to her after years of fighting shows that only men could afford to do that in their family or even in their society. Even though Ruth probably contributed to their wealth and had enough power to shake him up, Macon represents oppressive men that, despite his reasons for being like that, impede women from progressing. Morrison shows his machismo, the narrator says, "Milkman looked at his sisters. He had never been able to really distinguish them (or their roles) from his mother" (pg. 68). As Macon raised Milkman in a misogynist way, his son came to the point where he barely thought about his mother. Macon Dead's family represents the old-fashioned misogynist family that has been twisted by the situation of African Americans.
Meanwhile, Pilate has a completely different family life. She's a grandmother at a young age because both, her and her daughter, had early pregnancies. Neither of them got married and lived in a way that embarrassed Pilate's brother. Although Macon is rich and his family lives comfortably, Pilate's family seems happier. She sits with her daughter and granddaughter to make their fruit wine, which they won't sell much, and sing in harmony, enjoying the moment even though everything seems to be doing badly. Pilate doesn't get to live in one of the best houses in their town nor is married to one of the richest men, but she is freer and happier than Ruth, her sister-in-law. Morrison suggests that discrimination is worse than poverty.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Futureless Mentality
Despite their economic standing, the Dead family is stuck in its unfortunate past and cannot move forward, making them neither a poor African American family nor privileged White one. As the Deads aren't part of the clichéd categories the media portrays, Morrison makes the reader understand social issues in a different way. In this section of the book, the author has shown how Milkman can't look forward and progress and can't either truly understand his history. When taking a ride in the Dead's hearse, Milkman could only look back, something that later Morrison expands on when saying that, "It was becoming a habit--this concentration on things behind him. Almost as though there were no future to be had" (pg. 35). When I began reading this book I expected it to be about poverty-stricken African Americans, probably because of my lack of exposure to this subject, but the author is showing how racial issues go beyond wealth or slavery. Morrison is beginning to show how being different from one's stereotype can create a confusion about oneself. While the book shows how stereotypes can cause uncertainty about identity in African Americans, this is true about segregated groups as a whole.
Clichés about African Americans are evident on the book but I believe there is a similar nature that affects other discriminated groups. In the case of women, even though they're not a minority, by being underrepresented they act like one and might end up in a situation similar to the Dead's. I recently read an article in Time about Sheryl Sandberg, a Facebook businesswoman, regarding her new book intended to reboot feminism. By reading the article and commenting on Lean In, Sandberg's book, with my sister, who read it, I've noticed that I share many of her ideas and can relate women's discrimination to some aspects of Song of Solomon.
As society objectifies minorities, people begin to identify themselves not by their personalities but by the superficial aspects that separate them from others. The issue beneath discrimination isn't only the visible part of it but rather the mental part of it. In the setting of the novel, society taught White people that Blacks were different, but that didn't stop there. Minorities are even more susceptible to become mentally prejudicial against themselves. Corinthians declares that, "Negroes don't like the water"(pg. 35) and Mrs. Bains says that, "A nigger in business is a terrible thing to see" (pg. 22). Self-discrimiantion or differentiation has appeared more in the novel than the evident White bigotry to show that society penetrates our brains with bias. So far in the book, Morrison has shown that intolerance can go deep enough to the point where it influences all our thoughts. Feminism faces this issue in the present now that legal barriers have been overcome. As tangible discrimination is mostly over in the West (or the US at least), feminism slowed down because only mental carries were left. Sandberg proposes to fight against the deep-rooted aspects of discrimination that cause women from impede themselves from being successful. Just like characters in Song of Solomon have prejudices about themselves and Milkman is stuck with his past, many women that decide to work feel insecure about who they are and might try to fit into the male working model. Both cases of discrimination, against African Americans and against women, show that we need to get rid of social stereotypes because they make us limit ourselves, not to mention be treated unfairly by others. Milkman, when talking to his aunt, feels uncertain about his identity. His family is rich but their past, represented by Pilate, was miserable. As Blacks were put all together into one category by society, the Deads didn't quite fit in. Similarly, many people still have outdated beliefs about gender roles. People should change their way of thinking about labor and their "responsibilities" as men or women for life to be fair for all. Segregation or violence against a group are the effects of a discriminative mind that society creates. Although it sounds naive, for those issues to be resolved, there shouldn't be categorization in society.
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