BLACKNESS AND THE AMERICAN DREAM

The image of blackness

When America was discovered, it was reported by explorers that the land had plenty of riches. In this respect, to exploit those riches, white settlers realized they needed workers. Since at that period there were no machines to carry on the work, human labor was required. Thus, white people came to Africa and took black people to that land of riches so as to exploit it. That exploitation of riches was human exploitation because those who did the work were forced to do it and they did not gain anything in return. That attitude had led to revolts and riots. Long Distance Life incorporates the events of that exploitation and oppression in the black community both north and south. Through Naomi, we may understand the fact of being a black in a society marked by stereotypes. Referring to her family, blackness is a burden. Her father Jameson Reeves, as a sharecropper complains too much about sharecropping which substitutes the system of slave labor. He cannot prevent his family from starving because he is left to debt after every crop. It seems as if some aspects of slavery have been adopted again by white masters. The end of slavery does not mean the end of dehumanization. Black people are still confronted with difficulties in all fields. Marita Golden has dealt with this issue through her characters. Jameson Reeves toils and moils but earns nothing. Naomi, as a little girl, instead of going to school, helps her father to cultivate. Her cousin Jimmy is the victim of the Ku Klux Klan. So to speak, blackness during the slavery period had dehumanizing effects and blackness after slavery remained the same. In this respect, Rayford Logan described this transitional period as the nadir of black people. Marita Golden goes further into the details to consider this change for the worse. Formerly, white masters tyrannized their black workers in the farms and in their houses. After emancipation, the same attitudes remained in more subtle ways. Therefore, black people have gone from the fire into the frying pan. Given that the black socio-economic conditions remain the same in the south, a large number of black people find necessary to go north where factory owners need workers. But once there, things do not happen the way they expect it. Thus, in term of oppression and exploitation, the north and south of America may be the same but with a slight difference. In this case, the first section is going to deal with the conspiracy created by white people and the second to elucidate the black race as a restless one. 5 1/ The victims of conspiracy According to Jawanza Kunjufu: To use the word conspiracy, which is an act of plotting together to harm someone, to describe certain aspects of our society is a strong indictment of the social fabric of this country. 2 When there is conspiracy there is an agreement. In other words, conspiracy is spoken of when a group of people does something evil to other groups. The acts of conspiracy in America back to slavery. That is to say, it was a foregone conclusion among white people to take black people to America and to squeeze them dry. In this case, they represent a common enemy to black people. They are the conspirators or rather contributors to conspiracy. In Long Distance Life, the author sheds light on the aspects of conspiracy when Jameson Reeves is exploited by Cartwright with the system of sharecropping. Additionally, the merchant from whom he takes credit exploits him. The latter charges him with exorbitant prices. In the north, factory owners are reluctant to hire some of their black workers. In sum, they are the last to be hired and the first to be fired. Furthermore the most visible conspirators are those who actively participate in that exploitation. Among them we can mention the decision makers. Otherwise, the institution of southern states as a branch of power has created conspiracy against black people. That institution has passed laws forbidding the equality between white and the newly freed slaves. Most of the time, some acts of oppression are the results of legislative passed laws. Black people were concerned with forced labor and police laws tried to get the freedmen back to the fields. In almost every state adopted laws of discrimination. Those laws mainly excluded black people from first class cars, and so on. The fact that Jameson Reeves sharecrops is because he is said to be freed but without land. Sharecropping boils down to say that black people are landless and moneyless. This system tends to be negative simply because the masters are those who benefit from it. In addition, the merchants accept credit in so far as the sharecroppers accept to cultivate cotton. In this respect William Dubois asserted that: “The landlord therefore demands his rent in cotton, and the 2 Jawansa Kunjufu. Countering the Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys, African-American Images Chicago IL, 1985. Vol2, P. 6 merchant will accept mortgages on no other crop.”3 Thus, the landlord and the merchant are conspirators. Their sole purpose is to maintain black people at the low income level. Furthermore, the institution of southern states actively participates in the acts of conspiracy. For instance the Black Codes were passed in order to limit the basic human rights and civil liberties of black people. Those legislative passed laws controlled the labor, migration and other activities of newly freed slaves. Therefore, racism is institutionalized. Southern whites are conspirators and northern whites as well. Naomi said: If you want to work so bad, go on, but get a job where nobody can treat you like a mule or a slave. I swallowed enough pride for every woman in my family. I swore I’d save you from that. Stand behind a counter, but don’t stand behind nobody’s stove but your own.4 (LDL, p.35) Naomi prevents her daughter from working as a maid because she knows the pain in doing such a work. Additionally, every so often maids are given cast-off things which represent their pay. So to speak, northern white’s attitudes are similar to those of southerners. Jacqueline Jones clarifies this fact when she asserted that: “Like southern mistresses, white women tyrannized their servants in more subtle ways.”5 Thus, despite the promise of northern people, repulsive conditions of work harp upon.

A restless race

Black people have been involved in many activities both north and south. It must be stressed that they have been in America without their consent. After their arrival, a heavy burden awaited them, that is to say the fact of working as slaves. Furthermore, slaves endured a 3 William E. B Dubois. The Souls Of Black Folks.CHhicago: Mc Elnrg&Co, 19031 5 Jacqueline Jones. Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow . New York: Random House, 1948. 7 reclusive and benign life. The works of which they were assigned reflect restlessness. From the sharecropping to the factory jobs, black people knew but restlessness. Marita Golden has illustrated this point in her work when Naomi’s family toils and moils in all fields. Restlessness in the black community is characterized on the one hand by the different type of works and the treatment that black people have received and on the other by the different steps they have undertaken so as to achieve the dream of success. The fact that Naomi leaves the south to take part in the Great migration and struggles hard in the north sheds new lights on the restlessness of the black race. Black people have labored under repulsive conditions for several years in the south. Before the so-called abolition of slavery, restlessness was so recurrent. Even after slavery, as witnessed by Naomi, black people have not time for rest. Jameson Reeves works all day long. Since he cultivates tobacco, then the workaday is much longer. Naomi said: “With ‘bacca you worked from can’t see till can’t.”6 (LDL p27) In addition, Naomi’s mother wakes up at four sharp to find something to eat at night. When the tobacco starts growing, the whole family suckers and cures it. Thus, that restlessness has led to a lack of education of black children. Parents have no time to take care of their children. In addition, some parents have been separated from their family. They seldom see their children. This fact has led to a lack of children care in the southern states. As for the northern states, some parents work far from their family and may stay a month before paying a visit to their children. As a result, the black childhood can be defined by humiliation and disillusionment. Since black people are interested in advancement, the only possible way to achieve such progress is to work hard. In other words, the fact of spending all time playing is not sensible. Naomi’s cousin Cora is the very example. She has stopped working and got involved in partying instead of struggling. Consequently, she fails to achieve the dream of success. Thus, all play no work makes you poor. The key element to achieve the American dream is hard work. Hard work does not mean restlessness in the white community. As for the black community, this fact means the contrary simply because the society is racist. Northern factory employers pay lower wages to black workers than whites. In addition to that, black workers do not only work but they air their grievances by creating Unions. They show their resentment against their status as unequal to 8 whites. So to speak, restlessness cannot be excluded in the black community. Naomi, Randolph, Esther and many other characters in the novel work and protest. They have joined hundreds and even thousands of people marching in Washington for jobs. This means that, despite the promise of northern factory owners, they are still some black people who have not jobs. As long as black people are interested in achieving the American dream, too much of rest is synonymous to failure. Naomi has demonstrated this fact when she has two houses to work in. Therefore, there is no time for black people to fold their arms in a society which is prosperous and marked by materialism and other luxury goods.