Derek

Sparks
T00363632
Rhetorical Analysis
Mommas memories and the New Equality
Dont go making them white folks feel uncomfortable by talking about race,
is the voice of the writers mother about him basically making a career decision for
himself to teach at a college in Iowa, Vershawn Ashanti Young, Mommas Memories
and the New Equality. It scares them. Challenges their power, as she proceeded
to rant. This author opened up this story with getting straight to the point letting
the reader know that he will be addressing racism. Now we all know what racism is.
We all know its still alive and thats no secret especially how the media keeps it
going by not letting us forget or keeping America posted on police shootings against
young black males. This text took place during the history making era of first black
president. The author who wrote this, Vershawn Young, is a young black male and
from his previous works, the majority of them seems to be about racism from his
perspective and from his assumptions of his moms views. In this particular piece,
he uses the elements of the rhetorical appeals as well to speak to the reader from
his perspective.
I do not think the author is biased. According to University of Waterloo, Dr.
Vay, is an anti-racism consultant to organizations. Also, in reference to his past,
according to Linkedin, has done performances and has written different books
pertaining to this situation that he addresses in this piece. He stated in this story,
Mommas Memories and The New Equality, that he was accepting his second job

which was in Iowa. Note that Ive never been to Iowa, he made the reader believe
that Iowa was predominantly white by speaking from his moms views about white
people. He stated that this was the second time she had mentioned something like
this to him. So in my mind if this is the second time, he is either not racist at all or
trying to prove a point to Caucasians. He also said that most of his friends were
white. Now on the other hand his mom, being that she grew up in the Jim Crow era,
might be a little biased. The time of the Jim Crow law was a tough time for blacks. It
was the enforcement of segregation in the southern part of the United States. Now,
I dont think his mom influenced his thoughts on white people at all but I think the
reason he put her in this story was to show how people have their own thoughts due
to their experiences and at the same time its a difference between racist and
respect. He goes to say that his mom feels that basically, his celebrations of his
achievements would make whites look and him as if he is high strung and could
lead to possibly losing his job. He also goes to state that I wont be silent about
race, nor at the same time will I abandon my friends and colleagues. He is trying to
analyze the new equality of racism from a microaggression standpoint. He shows
that you can still be respected for just being yourself. Be confident in yourself, brave
and true at what you do. As for my thoughts on this subject, I am not biased at all.
Knowing it still exist, I still encounter it in different ways throughout my daily
routines which consist of work and school. I try to ignore the word biased because I
believe everybody is innocent until proven guilty. Therefore, if Im disrespected by
any kind then addressing or retaliating on the incident will take place. The way I was
raised was to treat all man equal. If anything influences me, it would be from life
experiences and not a piece of art. So this piece does not influence me but it still
gets me emotional. Especially when he tells the story about the little girl. Its sad

that our kids might have to go through these encounters due to what our ancestors
have been through.
He goes on to tell a story about a girl that didnt feel comfortable in her skin,
which was a black girl, because a white kid was rude to her. She talked about how
her skin is so black and her butt is so plumped and her gums being dark as well.
The author uses rhetorical element pathos, in which got me emotional about the
incident and took my mind to encounters Ive had. I think he uses this to show the
reader that this needs to end because at this age of kids, racism still exist and that
if they continue to be introduced at an early age how are we supposed to move
forward and a society. He also uses the element ethos in disguise though. Yeah he
wrote a story, but, if it was a speech Im sure it would have been great to hear it in
an auditorium for the simple fact he speaks about racism and his experience. I sort
of think his exigence was to persuade the audience to treat all man equal so that
this could lead to a better place we live in but at the same I think it show us that we
should raise our children better, by making us feel emotional about the incident that
happened with the first graders. The author was very successful in persuading if
looking at it from that argument. In this piece, he also showed how people are
pushing racism to the side as long as their kids arent hurt from the situation. How
people are not withholding information about racism to their kids, which is fine, but
basically saying its ok to not be colorblind and express yourself regardless how
the other person feels. The only reason I say that is because he stated. all of their
responses including the way the teacher planned to handle the situation, actually
create the racial problems they hope to eliminate.
He continues to speak about the Barack Obama Non Negro Dialect.
Which was basically say that light skinned will be more acceptable than dark skin

tone people. Senator Harry Reid believed Obama is successful because of his light
skin and the way he speaks. He then goes to talk about how some teachers believe
that you can be identified as less of a citizen than the rest of us, and save the
slang talk for friends and family and speak correctly in public. I think the purpose for
the writer to share this with his audience was to encourage people of all kind to be
proud of who you are and never be embarrassed about your race. He wanted the
reader, once again, to know how this affects the children by them not being old
enough to understand like adults, while we can ignore it.
The author was very effective in my eyesight. He made clear points on how
the old racism is different from the new and how he was not standing down on
trying to improve the new racism. Which is by speak more to the children about the
subject. Teach them to not be hateful or stereotype another kid by their color. As for
us adults, dont avoid someone because their white, like his mother did.
Communicate and show your kids we all are equal so that they too can do the same.
This text moved me as well. Growing up in the south we see racism quite
frequently, so to see someone trying to improve and make it better says a lot. He
shows exigency stating I refuse to submit to microaggressions in exchange for
middle class luxuries. As a result, I am actively disobeying my momma. He
believes he can make a difference in the new equality and lets us know hes not
stopping for anyone no matter how he or she feels. This text took place during the
history making era of first black president. His tone changed throughout the piece.
At the beginning he had a soft tone when he spoke about incident with the kids and
that meeting that followed it. At the end of the piece he had found motivation and
was determined to proceed with this new equality. So his tone was higher. He
showed constraints by not disrespecting the audience at any time or in either story.

For the most this was a piece to inspire the audience to do better by approaching
this situation and to motivate everyone on improving racism to make this a better
place for our kids.