What Its like to Be a Black Girl?

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Where as in The Welcome Table the old black women faces a similar situation. The old black women seems to wonder if being old and a black women is wrong in this period of time. The woman’s begins to tell Jesus that she had cooked for them, cleaned them, and nursed those (white people) but that due to the color of her skin she still was not accepted. The author goes in to great detail to portray the old black women, by her looks in my interpretation. The writer describes the women's teeth as being toothless and her underarms smelling of decay and musk and the fermenting smell of onion skins and rotten greens. Alice Walker (2003, February).

The comparison in these two poems are reflected in the way that both writers use similar techniques such as vivid descriptions of both characters to convey there message. In The Welcome Table the authors uses the third person and shifts the point of view from which the story is told. The beginning of the story is told from the white people's perspectives as they see an old black woman come to their church and go inside the church. The point of view switches to the usher who tells the old black lady to leave. The point of view then switches back to the white

women inside the church. Who take it as a personal insult and feel the most threatened about the old black lady being at their church. This constant changing of point of view is useful in that it portrays all the various characters. Patricia Smith also uses a similar literary style. She uses the jagged sentence structure and strong forceful language to show the reader the seriousness of her topic. Smith’s poem gives the audience an insider’s view into a young black girl’s transition into woman-hood. This gives the reader an insider’s view, similar to Alice Walker point of view technique. Imagination is also used to get you the reader to put yourself in the two African American women position. The characters are talked about through another person view. Not the narrator, so that you can put yourself in the place of the characters dramatic ending in both poem

The argument could be are people perceptions of others based on race or there ethnicity? I believe that stereotypes can be based on someone’s race and ethnicity. I believe that the old black woman asks you to see these on perceptions through her eyes. We may not know exactly how the old woman with a dazed and sleepy look in her aged blue-brown eyes is able to inspire visions of jungle orgies in an evil place . . . riotous anarchists looting and raping in the streets. (Ficken, Carl 1985). Why, can't they not see a fragile woman in her Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes? The old black woman only wants to worship, with the white church members. The old women also feels that she has done some many good things for these people who are white, so why wont they allow her in? In the old woman’s mind this makes know difference to her, because she accepted them for who they were.

In what it's like to be a black girl. The black girl has to learn to accept her looks even though she thinks she's not as pretty as a white girl. The black girl in what it's like to be a black girl ask you as the reader to look at how hard its is for a nine year old black child to grow up into a black women in a society that a racially jagged society. Both women seem to begin to question who they are, and what life has ahead for them, as African American women. This experience will transform the black girl into a beautiful black woman. The old black women will seat at The Welcome Table with Jesus.

The irony in both of the story's are that two women will get to a place that the other people in life my not have. The black girl that wants to be white will one day get the opportunity to marry the man that she loves. She will also learn to accept who she is. The old women will get to walk with Jesus on the path to the welcome table. The blessing that these two women received in my opinion, was based on there ability to show there willingness to embrace there ethnic race. This made both women proud to be beautiful strong black women. The old black women toothless, ragged and bewildered gets the one opportunity that none of the people in the church will ever know about. The one experience to walk with the one and only Jesus Christ. The one person on this earth that will accept you. No matter whom you are or what you have. Theses two women managed to find out that there identity and accept who they are. With the dramatic ending that good things can happen to people that ignore prejudice and racism. But for us to also realize that prejudice and racism still does exist. It’s just presented in different ways and you must learn to deal with in it in my opinion.

Conclusion: Both of these African American women faced different types of prejudice and racism in there own era. But they still managed to show that regardless of race and you're

ethnicity you still can overcome stereotypes. These women also showed that through struggles you will be rewarded for embracing who you are and learning to love yourself. Both poems show that even through adversities women of any color can achieve there goals and there dreams in life, no matter what color they are. But in my opinion there is still prejudice among us but this issues can be resolved if you believe in yourself.

References

Alice Walker (2003, February). The Welcome Table (Published in 1967.

Literary, Cavalcade, 55(5), 32-35 Retrieved March 13, 2011

from Research Library (Document ID 27937311).

Ficken, Carl. Alice Walker: The Welcome Table. God s Story and Modern

Literature: Reading Fiction in Community. Philadelphia: Fortress Press,

1985. 141-150.

Smith, p (1991). What it's like to be a black girl Life according to Motown

Sylmar, CA: Tia Chucha Press

Walker, a. (1973). The welcome table. In love and trouble. New York: Hartcort,

Brace, Jovanovich Not the paper you're looking for?