The Amazing Race

I've never had soul. I listen to gospel music or watch an African American worship service with despair as I realize just how terrifically un-fly I am. What they turn into an earthshakingly good time, I turn into a lesson about funeral etiquette and how to successfully pose for hatted man with an easel. Nothing I can do changes this fact. But it is in these nihilistic moments that I have come to realize the intrinsic worth of cultural differences. Every race has something to offer that is unique and valuable. Even though I will never be able to dance or evoke the dancing of others, I can still have a deep appreciation of those who can.

This is why I particularly liked reading Zora Neale Hurston. As a woman who came from an entirely black community she had a thorough understanding of African American culture. One can see this in “The Eatonville Anthology.” Basically, the Anthology is a collection of the lives of various fictional black folk. Obviously, I don’t think that she meant for this to encompass every black person on the planet, but the glimpses that she gives are still very specific to how she viewed her culture. For instance, an old fashioned hoedown takes place in part XI where young blacks are seen dancing the night away: “Sweating bodies, laughing mouths, grotesque faces, feet drumming fiercely. Deacons clapping as hard as the rest.” A sly woman named Cal’line successfully mocks her husband by donning his clothing in part XIII. In “How it Feels to be Colored Me,” Hurtson talks about how jazz deeply excites her (to which the white man nearby does not experience. For the purposes of this blog, we’ll assume white people intrinsically have less soul).The energy and drive of black people is thus conveyed nicely. And there is a sense of pride in these good moments that also comes across the page (pride in the uniqueness of her culture).

But there is an element here that is intriguing. Among the good and funny characteristics that she shares, there are also a good number of bad qualities. Abuse shows up in VI, IX, and X. Abuse from brutal husbands shows up specifically in X and IX (“He answered that she just did it for spite and that his fist was just as hard as her head”). Immoral acts such as thievery and prostitution take place in VI and XII. I pondered for a while about why she would include these qualities, especially as a Harlem Renaissance writer who shared seats with the more aggressive Hughes (who more assertively shared his tiffs with black discrimination) during a time where blacks were far from equal. It would seem that African Americans were already represented poorly enough without stories documenting their weaknesses.

However, I also couldn’t shake how much more honest this approach seemed. Hurston seemed to adore her culture, but she wasn’t afraid to shy away from where it fell short too. I believe this was done on the concept of equal humanity. Hurston talks about this in “How it Feels,” “I have no separate feeling about being an American citizen and colored. I am merely a fragment of the Great Soul that surges within boundaries.” This particular writing began with statement, “I remember the very day that I became colored.” She seemed to believe in her human identity on terms of her humanity rather than society. Maybe the reason for her inclusion of flaws was that humankind, both in its own good and bad ways, shares the same problems and weaknesses. In other words, this is a place where people can become equal.

I think that Hurston is trying to show that black people aren’t perfect, but in their imperfection they are as equally human as whites. Perhaps her reason for choosing this angle was to more or less say, “Black people aren’t greater than anyone else; they are just like everyone else in this way.” So it is more an attempt to show rather than tell. She still makes an interesting distinction here. Rather than calling everyone identical, she does seem to hold to a black identity, but it isn’t the racist black identity. In “The Eatonville Anthology,” How it feels to be Colored Me,” and in “The Gilded Six-Bits,” there is a clear sense that blacks have certain universal qualities. Personal energy, for example, shows up in all of the stories. The dialect in each story is also the same. What I think this means is that there is a real black identity that transcends the white racist’s view, “I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background,” “He is so pale with his whiteness then and I am so colored.”

It is important to note that Hurston never explicitly says that she is proud of her ethnicity. But in light of, one, the prominence of unique black culture in her writings, two, the attachment to the idea of being herself and being alright with where she comes from, and three, the historical context in which this was written, I think it is safe to say that she had a concept of freedom and identity that was rooted in a moral reality. This doesn’t help me dance, but it does give me an excuse to reflect and be uptight for a bit longer.