Gone with the Wind

Gustavo Quintero
English 48A
December 14, 2007
Journal #34 Loewen Chapter 5


Quote:
"The former field hands found themselves suddenly elevated to the seats of the mighty. There they conducted themselves as creatures of small intelligence might naturally be expected to do.Like monkeys or small children turned loose among treasured objects...(Loewen 144).


Summary:
The above quote is taken form the bestselling book,"Gone with the Wind", written by Margaret Mitchell.


Response:
I cannot believe just how ignorant the above passage is. Gone with the wind was a book and later a movie that dealt with race relations. Unlike, "Uncle Tom's Cabin", the book dealt with slavery as an acceptable part of the social structure. I find it astonishing that people would read this and later watch the movies and consider it one of the greatest movies of all time. This really goes to show just how very clueless the American public was on the issue of slavery. It's no wonder that slavery remains such a prominent them among early American literature. I am just really glad that I was raised in a neighborhood and by a family that did not condone racism or prejudices. It almost makes me laugh to think that people read garbage like the passage above. It really disturbs me how the author blatantly compares black people as stupid monkeys. The above passage really does a excellent job of showing modern day students and readers like myself just how much black people have been able to progress since the times of slavery. It also shows just what kind of ridiculous and wrong the stereotypes were made about blacks. To this day I do not even feel comfortable using the word "black" to describe an African American. Although I will confess this does not keep me from using it. As far as I now it is acceptable but in the back of my head I am always hoping no one will take any offense to the use of the word "black".