Sunday, October 28, 2007
Brownie's Book
I thought reading the passages from Brownie's book was very insightful. I liked the way that it addressed young children's problems and hardships of dealing with racism and descrimination. You could clearly see this in the letters the children wrote in to the magazine with issues that really bothered and distressed them. I was really surprised by how much pressure was placed on colored children to succeed and take opportunities thier ancestors were denied. Lines like "The only reward that yo'r unhappy fo'fathers ever will get is through you, an' if you fail, you disappoint yo'r whole race. (p. 35). When the little girl replied she echoed that pressure and said "I might have given up and been a failure and disappointment". As a teacher that made me cringe to think of a child calling themselves a failure and a disapointment. This pressure was also echoed in the poetry not only the stories. In th poem "Slumber Song" the last stanza states "You must nees be double true, Doubly strong in the task you do. Nor fail the Race that speaks in you, Brownie Boy." I think that the agenda of this magazine was very clear- to build up the next generation so that something like slavery won't happen again. I think that at the time it was probably necessary.
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5 comments:
I enjoyed the Brownies Book too. The messages are great for children. Studying to become a teacher myself, I could not believe that a child would consider themselves a failure or a disappointment either. It bothers me, but at least I know that I'll never allow my students to think that way about themselves.
As a future teacher myself I will always keep in mind to keep children positive and uplifted. However, there are times we all loose confidence in ourselves and what we are capable of, so stories such as Dolly’s Dream and Heritage will be good things to have kids read so that they can see that other people have had the same feelings, but those feeling can be overcome with a sense of pride and self worth.
I think that the young and the old make themselves stronger and more educated by learning from the past and The Brownie’s Book seems to really give the children a sense of overcoming obstacles and uplifting themselves.
"I think that the agenda of this magazine was very clear- to build up the next generation so that something like slavery won't happen again. I think that at the time it was probably necessary."
I think your statement completely encompasses the goal and aim of the Brownies' Book. When I put myself in the shoes of black children during this time, this book appears as the perfect resource for encouragement and character building. I think that the messages in this book really meet the target audience, and effectively "uplift" the young children so in need of uplifting.
I find that message to be very overwhelming for children. The idea that if 1 person fails that the whole race is disapointed... That is really hard for some children to come to terms with.
It did seem as if there was an over arching pressure toward achievement considering how long many African Americans had been denied access to upper level education and many occupations. However, you have to wonder if the kids felt pressure or just a sense of being able to accomplish anything. In some cases, we know that the kids were told by other, often white children, that they could not do certain jobs. These kind of comments might very well have been more pressure or motivation. Obviously the kids who wrote to the Brownie’s book were very well educated and determined to learn more about their race and what things were available to them.
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