Andrew Hirako

AFRS 417

SUMMARY REFLECTION 3
Chapter 17

Chapter 17 recounts David Still’s relationship with the terms “white privilege” and “Black
excellence” through the course of his life. His journey started at the age of 7 when a classmate asked
him the question “why does your hair look lie that when you sweat?” This question made him extremely
aware of his physical appearance and he realized for the first time that he didn’t look like his white
peers. It solidified into his awareness that there were people who had a Black and those who had a
white appearance. But since he lived in a majority white neighborhood, his experience was that there
was him and then everyone else. That moment created the foundation for his relationship with white
privilege and Black excellence.

From that moment on, he categorized his experience and what he observed through the filter of
either Black or white. His heroes in comic books and movies were white. His role models in television
were white. Everyone who he saw in the media who were intelligent, beautiful, and successful were
white. Every personification of excellence that he saw was white. Black excellence was nowhere to be
found. In contrast to that, the stories that his Parents told about their own upbringing and about their
home towns were filled with its difficulties. It was difficult to grow up in Harlem in the 1940’s his Mother
would tell him. The Black experience that his Parents would tell him did not personify excellence. These
experiences and observations made it clear to David that the Whites had privileges that the Blacks did
not. The Blacks had the cards stacked against them and he knew and his Parents knew. So his Parents
would push excellence onto him so that he could beat the odds. This was the start of his relationship
with the term “Black excellence.” The term was source of great conflict within him. His Parents would
push excellence on to him but he would push back. He could not come to terms with the unfairness of
White privilege and its effect on him. At the same time he would place great pressure on himself to
achieve excellence because to him, it was the only way to level the playing field in a world of White
privilege. It was a way for him to feel validated and feel his worth. However, as he continued to explore
Black excellence, he began to understand that it was something that he’s seeking and building. His
definition of what excellence is began to widen. Looking back at his childhood, he realized that the most
important thing that his Parents did for him was to place all their hopes and dreams in to him, because
in their eyes he was worth it and was excellent. Today, David’s understanding of excellence mirrors his
Parent’s and he is reminding everyone that they are worth it and excellent.

Chapter 21

Chapter 21 is about examining and understanding the psychological, emotional, and educational
impact of the N!gga(er) word on everyday people. In order do so, Eddie Moore Jr. employs the use of his
N!gga(er) word presentation. It is a four step process. Step 1, turns the lights off in the room and have
participants close their eyes and take a breath. Open and shut the door. Step 2, have participants
imagine that a N!gga(er) just walked into the room. In one word, have participants share the picture or
visual that comes to mind. Step 3, discuss with participants where these pictures come from. Step 4,
explore the history of the word.

Step 4 also involves questioning where their image of N!gga(er) began and also questioning
whether participants were born with the image in their head or were learned. Eddie states that the
earlier an image is seared into a mind, the harder it will be to erase it. He goes on to bring up the fact
that in the U.S., White babies consistently receive better prenatal care than Black babies. How early are
those images of N!gga(er) getting imprinted into a person’s mind? It could quite possibly be as early as
before being born. And the earlier that image is imprinted into a mind, the harder it will be to erase it.
Eddie is considering us to look past the rap music and television, and look further down the past and
consider when exactly these images begin to make an imprint in a person’s life.

Chapter 23

Chapter 23 tells a story of how an independent private school known to provide the best
education broke the spirit of a Black child. The narrator and her sister are both scholars with solid
educational backgrounds. When it was time for the Sister’s son to start his formal education, both the
narrator and her sister made sure that he would be provided with the best education available. This
school that he was admitted to promised an education that would nurture his individual gifts and
characteristics. However, a few months into the program, her sister began receiving numerous calls
from the teacher. According to the teacher and counselor, the son was a problem in the class and was
described as all the common catchphrases ascribed to young Black boys. He was described as
manipulative, inattentive, hyperactive, impulsive, and always in need of redirection. Although the
narrator and her sister was familiar with this routine from their learnings from social science and
educational texts, it was still difficult and shocking for them to experience it. They tried to convince the
school that what their son needed was a more engaged curriculum, the school would not listen.
According to research, Black children are punished more frequently and harshly compared to any other
children. The point of this story is to capture how a single teacher, with the support of a racist
institutional system, can take an enthusiastic young Black boy and turn him into a school hating student.