ENG 102 essay #2 \"The Comet\" PDF

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“The Comet” written by W.E.B. DuBois focuses on how blacks and whites see each other as a society...

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1 Professor Joy Sanchez-Taylor ENG 102 10 November 2016

“The Comet” written by W.E.B. DuBois focuses on how blacks and whites see each other as a society. We find a colored man by the name of Jim Davis who is trying to socialize with a white woman named Julia. They are faced with the destruction in New York which makes them believe that they are the only two survivors. Racism was a major issue in the 1920’s in which made it so difficult for both of these people to interact with each other. This essay will use the historical perspective to analyze racism in the 1920’s because this is when society separated blacks and whites. This error also introduced us to the Ku Klux Klan group and slavery. In “The Comet”, history of the times plays a significant role simply because throughout the story Jim and Julia ended up not seeing each other as a black man and a white woman fighting for survival. At first, since they were so accustomed to having separation between each race they couldn’t find a way to connect. They both realized that they were the same people with the same ideas just a different color on their skin. No matter what they went through they knew that society would never see them as one human race, they will just be seen as a black man and a white woman. W.E.B. DuBois makes his readers realize how racism has such a powerful effect on society. As he states, “She stared at him. Of all the sorts of men she had pictured as coming to her rescue she had not dreamed of one like him. Not that he was not human, but he dwelt in a world so far from hers.” In her mind she would have preferred to have one of her own people to save her instead of someone of color. The author also makes an attempt to make us realize that when times get hard and people get frustrated you can’t judge them by what color they are

2 because reality is the least of whom you think won’t help you in a time of loss ends up being the person who saves you. Towards the end of the story, we still see racism occurring when the author states,” Well, what do you think of that? Cried a bystander; of all New York, just a white girl and a nigger!” This is how the outside world would see an inter-racial couple because in this era blacks and whites were always separated. In the 1920’s, racism was seen as a negative or positive way depending on who was looking at it. According to Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, one important historical event that took place was the creation of a group called Ku Klux Klan. During this time, many blacks were Republicans leaders and voters. This group’s intentions were to create violence against black Republican’s and voters. They were out to out number the blacks so that only the whites were in power. When we discuss the issue about racism we have to include the facts about slavery. In the Washington Informer it informed us that Africans were sold as slaves to the American people, many slaves were afraid to complain about their living situation simply because they would receive whipping and punishment by their owners. They were treated so unfairly simply because they were black and seen in other peoples eyes as degraded. Slaves were not even allowed to learn how to read and write, they were only allowed by their owners to attend church on Sundays. Racism has always been an issue in America. Society believed that whites were better then blacks. This is why we had groups like the KKK and blacks were forced into slavery. We as humans will never know how it must have been for the black society to overcome slavery or being involved in the hatred of being a color person.

3 Works Cited Du Bois, W. E. B. “The Social Equality of Whites and Blacks.” Black Thought and Culture. 1st Electronic Ed. New York, NY: Crisis, 1920. Web. 09 November 2016. This article demonstrates to us that no matter what people of color did they were still being accused of advocating social equality. Black colored humans believe that social equality should mean having morality, mental plus physical fitness to associate with others. One very important point made was that even the late Booker T. Washington was considered an advocate of “social equality” no matter, he was still invited to private and public functions. Levitas, Daniel, and Michael Les Benedict. "Ku Klux Klan." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Grolier Online, 2016. Web. 20 Nov. 2016. In this article we learned how the KKK group was created and how they were out to get the blacks. It speaks about the blacks were known to be Republicans leaders. Pinney, Roy. "Slavery." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Grolier Online, 2016. Web. 5 Nov. 2016. Based on this article it mentions how people were sold into slavery as a punishment. It also explains to us on how slaves were use primarily for agriculture. Walters, Ron. "From The Desk; Black Slavery in the 20th Century? Yes." Washington Informer [Washington, D.C.] 25 June 2003: 15. Web. In the article we remember how blacks had to live as slaves. The article refers to slavery for some ended back in the 1940’s but reality is they were still cases of slavery even in the 1960’s. Even while the Civil Rights Movements were initiated they were still whites practicing slavery. Legal slavery may have ended but many color people feel that they are still being treated as

4 slaves. No matter what people of color do and say they will always be that White, Hispanic, or other culture human to criminalize against them....