Panel Presentation Reflection

There were a few key points that I wanted to discuss that our group didn't talk about in our panel presentation on Friday. For one, our article "Set and Osiris in Ishmael Reed’s neo-hooDoo aesthetic" talks quite a bit about how Reed transforms the contents of what “black” writing is in his various books like Mumbo Jumbo. The article argues that Reeds books adapt American history while giving voice to suppressed ideas and peoples and showing that black "writing" can consist of various styles and genres. Reed's unique style in Mumbo Jumbo, with a collage of images and text and a  bibliography challenge the genres that Reed wrote in during the time. In Mumbo Jumbo, Reed's use of African sources (common in many of Reeds books) was his own attempt to challenge the notion of modernist writing which was popular since the 1950s. Reed says "it was his modern interpretation of African American Folklore." 

During my group's panel presentation on Friday in class, someone made a particularly interesting comment that got me thinking. In class, we talked about how in Mumbo Jumbo and various other books that Reed has written, Osiris is seen as the "God of Life". He has a very "happy go lucky" personality as a ruler compared to Set's authoritative dominance. 

Someone in class mentioned (I'm forgetting who but thanks) that it seems odd that Osiris is the founder of agriculture, considering how much manual labor and hard work agriculture entails. Now, ignoring the fact that Set wants to obliterate all life and is against nature, he wants to enslave the people and is enraged at people for enjoying themselves when there was "hard work to be done"(Mumbo Jumbo 163). It seems like Set would be more in tune with the concept of manual labor. Slavery is something that Set is definitely a fan of and throughout history, slavery has been predominantly manifested through agriculture. In my personal opinion, Osiris' personality doesn't fit well with the concept of agriculture. Osiris is able to produce agriculture and grow food by dancing and singing which makes farming seem like easy work when it's not all sunshine and rainbows. 

Booker T Washington in Ragtime

This year I have had the pleasure of taking Mr. Sutton’s junior year US history class as well as Mr. Leff’s class (Race Class Gender in 20th Century American Pop Culture). Through both these classes, I have learned a lot about Booker T Washington. Mr Washington was born a slave in Virginia but attended college at Wayland Seminary. Between the years 1890 and 1915, he was the dominant leader in the African American community. He founded the Tuskegee Institute, a historically black college in Alabama and delivered a speech known as the Atlanta Compromise that gained him national fame. Washington believed that blacks must first become respectable,  economically indispensable, and religiously upright in order to prove themselves to whites. He encouraged blacks to understand their place in society as inferior to whites and to work toward equality over time by “keeping their noses clean”. I found Doctorow’s portrayal of Mr. Washington to be predictable in Ragtime. Based on what I have learned this year, I was able to guess what Mr. Washinton would tell Coalhouse Walker in the library.

In Mr. Leff’s Race Class Gender class, we talked a lot about a boxer named Jack Johnson who became the first African American world heavyweight boxing champion between 1908 and 1915 (Roughly the same time Booker T. Washington was popular). Outside of the ring, Jack Johnson’s personality and his lavish lifestyle were problematic to Booker T. Washington. Jack Johnson ignored racism when he was at the peak of his career. He was seen with white women during various points in his career. He broke the law a lot, drove fast cars around town, and ignored authority. Booker T Washington publicly denounced Johnson’s behavior:

"It is unfortunate that a man with money should use it in a way to injure his own people, in the eyes of those who are seeking to uplift his race and improve its conditions, I wish to say emphatically that Jack Johnson’s actions did not meet my personal approval and I am sure they do not meet with the approval of the colored race.”

Booker T Washington denounces Coalhouse Walker in a similar way in Ragtime. Washington thinks Walker is reflecting poorly on the African American community and tries to convince Walker to turn himself in. As soon as I saw Booker T Washington’s name in the book, I immediately thought of Jack Johnson and was able to guess that Washington would denounce Coalhouse Walker in a similar way. All in all, I thought Coalhouse Walker’s personality was very similar to Jack Johnson’s. Both men had a kind of “smooth swagger” in the way they dealt with racism. Doctorow depicts Coalhouse Walker as reserved yet motivated to get back at everyone for his mistreatment. Jack Johnson defies authority by being showy and taking care of business in the ring.