I had never heard of Dutchman or LeRoi Jones before this
class, and I’m very glad we got to read him. Lula and Clay work well as
representations of white and black culture.
I’m particularly interested in how unpleasant Lula is throughout the
play, even before she murders Clay in cold blood. Jones/Baraka’s disdain for
the racism that comes from white liberals instead of a more hostile,
stereotypical image is present in both Dutchman and The Slave. In part I believe
it’s because with overt racists it’s immediately obvious where you stand with
them, but people who have studied black culture and claim to be more
progressive with their views should, in theory, know better. Their ignorance
can be even more staggering as a result.
Lula is very passive-aggressive about her racism, at least
before she begins her dancing routine. She bothers Clay at the beginning, but
immediately asserts that he was looking at her through the window. Throughout
her flirting, she will insinuate that she is interested in Clay, but as soon as
Clay flirts back she mocks him and acts as if it’s out of the realm of
possibility that she’ll sleep with him. She’ll beg Clay to invite her to the
party he’s going to, but once he asks she claims she can’t go with him and that
she doesn't even know him. She’s able to manipulate the conversation to however
she pleases.
Her claims to know Clay is what really sets him off though.
She makes initial assumptions about him, like where he’s from, that he is
trying to grow a beard, what his friend Walter is like, and even what his name
will be before he says anything. Then she has the audacity to try and tell Clay
how to live, that he can’t try and adapt certain aspects of white culture,
calling him an “Uncle Tom” and insinuating he isn't acting black enough.
It’s this assumption that a white person can presume to know
anything about black people that really seems to infuriate Clay and Jones
himself. White people assume that because they've enjoyed certain aspects of black
culture, like Bessie Smith and Charlie Parker, that they know everything. We
saw Kerouac himself do that in On the Road. He spent a day picking cotton and
immediately felt like he knew what it was like to be black. His brief time
spent with Beatrice and her family makes him believe he understands Mexican
culture. He wants to be black mainly because he enjoys jazz musicians so much.
Clay just wants to be left alone and be able to live however
he wants, and Lula comes off as callous and even crazy for trying to make him
conform to a stereotype. The larger message to take from this is that white
people and black people will never be fully integrated (symbolized by the party
Clay and Lula talked about) and only bad things can come from speaking your
true feelings (symbolized by Lula murdering Clay and having all the passengers
help to throw his body off).
I think your point about Clay wanting to be left alone to act in whatever way he pleases is absolutely true. He didn't seem to buy into the stereotypes Lula presented, and he didn't seemed ashamed to show some "white" characteristics (such as his suit)because he didn't think these fashions and ideas were exclusive to whites. I wasn't entirely sure if Jones was completely denouncing assimilation, but Clay didn't seem to think that his interests qualified as pretending to be white. Also, your inclusion of Kerouac's views on race really enhanced your argument. The ignorance of other Beat writers was irritating, because they only paid attention to the fun and mainstream jazz scene, while showing little interest and understanding to the hardships of black Americans. While these writers were contradictory with their views, it definitely seemed like Jones had a concrete set of ideas.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that the author specifically dislikes "liberal" racists more or less than the more overt, loud racist. I think it is like you said, and that for him even a person that is liberal and takes the steps to become more tolerant can only make it so much of the way there. And in the end it doesn't work. I do not know if he would still see it that way today.
ReplyDeleteI am wondering if you agree or disagree with the characteristics of Clay. I understand that Lula pokes at him and sets him off by claiming to know him (and his type), but do you think Clay is realistic as a character? Did you believe in his emotions? Because reading the play the first time, I didn't, and it made his speech seem very uncalled for an even faux in a sense. Maybe that's just me, though.
ReplyDeleteIn response to you, Alex Auguste and Sydney Jordan, I did believe Clay as a character and I do think he bought into the stereotypes that Lula brought up but he is hiding that even from himself at the beginning of the play. I think this because of his reaction to her which was to ignore the subject of race as much as possible. At first He distanced himself from his race by saying they don't need him to speak for them. I think he did this to ignore the history of suit wearing and cotton-picking attire, which is what I think infuriates Amiri and is what he is writing about here: that by ignoring the issue of race, by acting like nothing happened and just assimilating into white-culture (whether we like it or not, I bet a European came up with the suit and tie) the black male was, for Amiri Baracka, not doing enough for his race which is why he made Clay a push over, which is what he thought of himself when Baracka himself was a young kid from Jersery like Clay,hanging around with the Beats, writing poetry about any subject but race and trying to grow a beard.
ReplyDelete