People of Color & Romance - Georgia B Page - Week Three

     While romance novels isn't a commonly talked about field when it comes to discussing race and prejudice, following the 2020 premeire of Bridgerton  on Netflix, an upsetting history of exclusion and hatred was uncovered within the depths of the romance industry. Romance is after set aside as a genre not to be taken seriously, in reality it is much larger than that. Romance makes up more than 18% of fiction sales in the United States, and has proven to be an allegory for something much more than just sappy stories - it is love and joy, and for some reason, people seem to find it unfavorable that writers express the feelings of love and joy through the eyes of BIPOC characters. 

    Romnace has had a history of excluding Black writers and their stories, as well as white writers tokenizing and writing characters of color in an unfavorable way. When romance began to pick up speed in the mid 20th century, romance novels that contained or were focused around BIPOC characters were referred to as "ethnic romance", and were often shelved as far away from the general romance section in bookstores as possible. While some people argued it was so that BIPOC readers could easily access the stories that represented them as opposed to having to dig through shelves of white-focused books, it also seemed that people did not like the idea of "Black romance" or "Asain-American romance" or "Indigenous romance", because to them, romance was inherently white, and BIPOC people did not fit in their idea of what love and joy should be or look like.

    After reading Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert, the Vox News article "Bad Romance", and listening to the NPR Codeswitch episode titles "Black Kiss-tory", it became very clear that there is a need for more representation for BIPOC people in stories of love and joy. Too often, their stories are constrained to stories of their pain and suffering at the hand of white Americans, generally focused around slavery and the Civil Rights Movement. However, while it is good that these stories and experiences are being highlighted, it simply is not enough. It is crucial for young people of color to see themselves as worthy of love and happiness and joy in the way that their white counterparts are consistently told they are. 

    I think that the best way to teach this material (Black love and joy, not just romance) would be in a racial healing class or a Black joy class. I think that it is crucial that we provide spaces for people of color to not just talk about their hardships and the barriers that they face, but also be vulnerable about the good things in their lives, and learn to feel worthy of them. 

Comments

  1. Ms. DunleyFebruary 18, 2021 at 11:48 AM

    What specifics would you like to see added to a Black Joy class? Where could this be added in the current curriculum?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. georgia b pageMarch 29, 2021 at 5:54 PM

      I think that this could be added in English and Creative Writing classes, as well as a class as itself. I would like to see the active breaking down of the stereotypes of Black people being "bound to the struggle" so they can never experience their own joy, happiness, love, etc. I would also like to dive into art and poetry in this class that has nothing to do with oppression specifically but just Black people being happy. Ezra also found a podcast called "Black People Going on Adventures" that tells these types of stories so I think that could be neat.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa (8) Massacre's throughout America's History

      Wealth begets wealth and money is power but we know through the years Black people have been systematically stripped of both their wealth and their power. The average black family holds only one 7th the wealth of the average white family. While explanations for this vary depending on who asked, some may say it's due to a lack of initiative. That the difference is a show of character, but a look at history will reveal the true answer. We hear lots about Abraham Lincoln and how he freed the slaves, but we don't hear about the continuation of Black subjugation that happens right after slavery. After slavery was ended during the reconstruction era many black people were very hopeful, they began electing officials and electing them into office, but every time Black people begin building themselves up there is always someone eager to tear them down.     In 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma was home to Black Wallstreet, one of the wealthiest Black communities in the nation at...
Read more

Sudanese Revolution: Feminism, Art, and the Modern World (9)

Sudan has approximately 34.5 million people from as many as 400 different ethnic groups. The North is dominated by Arabic-speaking Muslims. In the South, at least 100 different languages are spoken, and most southern Sudanese follow indigenous beliefs or have become Christians. Each major ethnic group and historical region has its own special forms of cultural expression. Feminism In the 2019 Sudanese Revolution to oust then-President Omar al-Bashir,  women led the way. One 22-year-old student, Alaa Salah, became a symbol of the revolution and feminism in Sudan after a photo of her leading protests went viral. 70% of the protestors in the revolution were women, Historically, Sudanese authorities have silenced women's rights activists with threats of libel and rape; some women had their heads forcibly shaved, were forced to take off their clothes, then photographed, insulted, taken to jail, beaten, and "treated in a way no Sudanese girl should be treated".  However, in sha...
Read more

Advanced Placement vs. Dual Enrollment - Understanding Existing Research

       Existing research regarding my topic can be separated into three main categories. The research I reference in this review consists of related experiments conducted within the last two decades. Each section separates the lens through which the sample experiments were conducted, and how they related directly to my own research. Due to the lack of comparative research between Advanced Placement and dual enrollment through the lens of students of color, current research can be divided into three main sections - analysis of dual enrollment success in students of color, analysis of Advanced Placement success in students of color, and comparison of overall implications of both types of coursework for all students.  Dual Enrollment Success in BIPOC Students Karp & Hughes (2008)  and Swanson (2008)  focus on the benefits and impacts of dual enrollment courses on high school students, believing that dual enrollment is a key factor in increasing colleg...
Read more