The article commences with the persona stating that he is black. It has further outlined that the persona’s plain declaration of his race shall have some social problems that must be addressed. In a nutshell, the persona has stated that his declaration concerning his race will create a fuss and thus he questions whether he should let the society to continue perceiving him as being a white.
According to Kocur and Leung, the majority of people in the United States have a predisposed notion that it is better to be white[1]. This kind of thinking has deprived people the chance to identify the intrinsic values possessed by the blacks. According to the persona, blacks inherently possess a better culture than the whites.
The article has laid out that the persona’s decision to stick to his race would take a two fold interpretation in which some of the whites who are closely tied to him and his work viewing it as a betrayal. Such whites would conclude that the persona has insulted their previous relationship with him. On the other hand, a number of people would view his move as a business one in which the persona was seeking publicity to market his artistry[2].
The author has further stated that his decision to identify himself as being black is not motivated by the desire to market his work, but to attain peace of mind that he would not have if he pretended to be white. It is evident that the persona had experienced some degrading scenarios in which white people had insulted blacks.
The persona greatly detests this kind of behavior and has narrated that various research works have been conducted where it has been proved that about 20% of all the whites in the United States have a black ancestry. Therefore, it is everybody’s obligation to choose where they belong without incriminating the other race and discrediting the research that has already been done in order to suit one’s social desires of being white or black[3].
Response for the article
The issue of racism that is brought out in this article is complex. The persona has decried the acrimony that whites have towards the blacks in the United States. He has observed that whites are hypocritical in that they insult blacks in their absentia. This proves that the effects of racism have far reaching implications in that a number of moral issues arise as a result of racial prejudices.
The persona has said that his mind is at peace after identifying himself as a black rather hiding in the shadow of being a white, which is a mirage imagination. The opinion that peace is achievable by being proud of whatever race one belongs to is of essence as it depicts that human thoughts and affections are not legislated anywhere and they are unbridled by any law.
This gives everyone the free will to choose which race to belong to. Therefore, it is prudent to conclude that people have the freedom to decide whether they should weed out others based on their color or not. Therefore, it is the decision of the actor to flip to one side of the race and it has given him clarity of mind.
Bibliography
Kocur, Zoya, and Simon Leung. Theory in Contemporary Art Since 1985. Oxford: Blackwell publishers, 2005.
Footnotes
- Zoya Kocur and Simon Leung, Theory in Contemporary Art Since 1985. (Oxford: Blackwell publishers, 2005), 184.
- Zoya Kocur and Simon Leung, Theory in Contemporary Art Since 1985. (Oxford: Blackwell publishers, 2005), 184.
- Zoya Kocur and Simon Leung, Theory in Contemporary Art Since 1985. (Oxford: Blackwell publishers, 2005), 185.