The most striking thing about Black Women/Black Literature, the interview of Christina McVay, conducted by Joannne Kilgour Dowdy, was that Christina McVay is a WHITE woman with such a passion for the BLACK Culture. She respects it as a very powerful and important culture and studies many of its components. She especially admires the literature and the language that stems from the Black culture. She says that she has read a lot of Black literature by authors such as Toni Morrison, and James Baldwin and that her master’s in Comparative Literature gives her the authority to say that these works are just as good as any of the German or Russian classics that people may refer to. As far as the language that derives from the Black culture, McVay says that this is something to be celebrated. Just as any other language it has rules in its use and can and should be used at the right times and places, despite any negative connotations about it.
Some Black people find it necessary to distance themselves from their own culture in order to “fit in”, and advance in life. They feel that their culture is not accepted on a mainstream scale and they must escape it in order to become successful in life. They are taught that the way of life that they know and live is not the “right” way. McVay is a great leader because she introduces the opposite theory to her students. She teaches them that their culture and the art it produces, such as literature, are to be celebrated rather than suppressed. She makes them think by reaching out to them on their level rather than trying to approach them in an intimidating, overbearing manner. She teaches them the positive things that come of Black culture rather than focus on the negatives. She has an open mind, not only as a White woman studying the Black culture, but as a professor who also learns from her students. McVay knows that there are things that her students can introduce to the classroom because of their own backgrounds and experiences that she may be unfamiliar with because she isn’t a product of the Black culture. Overall Christina McVay is an inspiring woman who teaches a powerful lesson by doing something that she loves.
I agree with the instance of Black people being somewhat distant to expressing their culture in order to succeed amongst whites. I feel that many blacks do not feel compelled to embrace their culture because we have always been inferior to whites for so long. In this article, Christina McVay gives valuable lessons including learning the importance of Black culture and placing it in the literature that Black students are faced with.
ReplyDeleteIn large part, I agree with the notion that black people are so often hesitant about expressing their "blackness" and their culture in front of people who are not black. Perhaps it comes from the many centuries of ridicule of black culture at the hands of white people. However, I feel that is how McVay's students are able to connect with her so well. She makes them feel comfortable using their language and she doesn't try to mock or fake her way into their world. She does, however, show much respect for it and for that reason, her students are able to connect with her and respect her as well.
ReplyDeleteTaylor Hawkins