Week 4 Reading Response

Week 4 Reading Response
Destiny Lopez

            In “Reading the Runaways,” David Waldstreicher reinterprets runaway slave advertisements as evidence of the ways in which slaves resisted slavery by taking advantage of fluidity in their society. What makes this paper unique is that rather than focusing on what these advertisements tell us about oppression under slavery, Waldstreicher focuses on what the advertisement tells us about the skills and abilities that allowed runaway slaves to succeed in escaping.

            Waldstrechier complicates the notion of “passing.” Whereas many scholars focus on black people passing as white, Waldstreicher suggests that there are more than one ways to pass. He argues that free and unfree did not exist on a black/white binary; rather, in certain places, there were free black people and unfree whites. Rather than passing for white, he argues, it was sometimes more practical that runaway slaves pass as a free black person, or another free person of color. This paper disrupts the notion of a black/white, slave/free binary by introduces the many ambiguities in society during this period. He goes on to argue that slaves capitalized on these very ambiguities and used them to their advantage. He does a good job of making this argument without minimizing the racialized reality of slavery, by acknowledging the racism that was central to the institution of slavery.

            I really liked how he drew his own interpretations of primary sources to tell an unconventional, yet compelling, story. Descriptions of runaway slaves seem like just that – descriptions, with nothing more to tell us than superficial information. However, by using these descriptions of clothing, hair, accent, and languages, he is able to challenge the narrative that black people under slavery had no agency or capacity to resist. He does not ignore the brutal reality and limited options slaves faced, but rather he highlights how some slaves made extraordinary use of their very limited options and resources.

            In “The Fairy and the Intermediate Sex,” George Chauncy makes the argument that many gay men in turn-of-the century New York adopted the “fairy” persona in order to mitigate the stigma of homosexuality by adopting a feminine gender identity. By making the distinction between sexuality and gender identity, the fairy persona actually allowed men more leeway in acting on their sexual preferences.

            I found Chauncy’s distinction between sexual preference and gender identity interesting, since it seems unexpected that turn of the century New Yorkers would be willing to make this distinction at all. I would assume that being seen as a “fairy” would actually add to the social stigma a person faced since it deviated so strongly from gender norms. However, Chauncy argues that because fairies were so visibly outside the bounds of gender norms, they were able to practice their sexuality more freely. According to Chauncy, this was because fairies were not seen as gay men; instead, they were seen as a third gender, closer to women. This mitigated the social stigma of homosexuality since fairies were not considered men, so their acts wouldn’t constitute homosexuality. I found it hard to believe that people during this time period would be willing to think in such non-binary terms. However, Chauncy’s use of quotes from a psychologist who believed fairies had the brains of women demonstrates that people during this time understood that there was some difference between sexual preference and gender identity.

            Chauncy does a good job of avoiding generalizing the experience of all fairies. Although the fairy persona protected gay men in some ways, being perceived as women subjected them to the violence faced by many women. He also clarifies that for many gay men, fairy was not just a persona that was strategically adopted, but a natural expression of identity.

 Chicano Park Research Topic Statement 

Specifics 

I will be writing about the creation of Chicano Park in San Diego, California during the 1970s. I will focus primarily on the student activists and artists who were involved in the protest that lead to the park's creation. I will then link this specific occurrence to the larger consciousness of the Chicano Movement and how the Chicano park activists drew on the movement. 

Argument 

I want to argue that the activists and community members who fought for Chicano Park were motivated by a desire to reclaim Chicano space in the borderlands (San Diego). There is strong evidence that the park was linked to the Chicano notion of Aztlan - that is, reclaiming land that formerly belonged to indigenous Mexicans. The reclamation of the barrio is a symbolic reclamation of land that was taken from indigenous people and Mexicans, and continued to be taken from Chicanos in San Diego as the neighborhood was encroached upon by highways and junkyards. 

Significance 

My topic is historically important because Chicano Park is not only iconic in San Diego, but it is the largest outdoor display of murals in the world. It is a special and distinctly Chicano space in a city that is typically associated with wealth, whiteness, and conservatism. In San Diego, Barrio Logan often receives negative stereotypes, but Chicano Park is a source of pride for its residents. I would like to make connections between how Chicano Park is not just significant in San Diego, but in the Chicano Movement and in public arts in general. 

Primary Literature 

The San Diego Union Tribune 

Mexican American Collection - Green Library 

Interviews from Chicano Park documentary 

Try to reach out to artists and students who were involved in the actions - oral histories 

Secondary literature 

The Folklore of the Freeway - Eric Avila 

Chicanos in a Changing Society - Al Camarillo  

Chicano San Diego - Richard Griswald del Castillo 

Art and Social Movements: Cultural Politics in Aztlan - Edward McCaughan 

This Land was Mexican Once - Linda Heidenreich  

Borderlands La Frontera, the New Mestiza - Gloria Anzaldua