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The American Dilemma: the lady among the races.


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How far have we come from the revelations, speculations, stereotypes, and evaluations  that are given about us and the labels were give to ourselves.

"In our world, however, extremes quickly meet. Sumner believed it “the greatest folly of which man can be capable to sit down with a slate and pencil and plan out a new social world,” a point of view containing little hope for the underdog. But for all his good works, some of Park’s assumptions were little better. The Negro, he felt, “has al-ways been interested rather in expression than in action; interested in life itself rather than in its reconstruction or reformation. The Negro is, by natural disposition, neither an intellectual nor an idealist, like the Jew; nor a brooding introspective, like the East Indian; nor a pioneer and frontiersman, like the Anglo-Saxon. He is primarily an artist, loving life for its own sake. His m’tier is expression rather than action. He is, so to speak, the lady among the races.”

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That's funny.....
Because today ASIANS are considered among the most effeminate race and Blacks are considered the most masculine.

Because many conservative or traditionalist White men have a narrow minded view of the world and life in general, anything that doesn't fit their category of manhood is automatically regulated to being "lady like".
Growing up in Detroit I saw Black men who were hard core street hustlers many of whom kept 3 or 4 women doing things that many White men considered "feminine".
They used to get their finger nails done, they were very particular about their hair, were neat and sharp in the way they dressed, wore high heeled shoes, some even wore enough lip balm that it looked like lipstick...lol.

But there was nothing "sweet" about these brothers and if you dared challenged THEIR manhood you'd be putting your very life in jeopardy.


Some may consider it a stereotype but I believe there is some truth to the belief that Blacks tend to be more stylish or more creative.

Besides, is being a "lady" really all THAT bad?

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@Dr. Jazzy, thanks for making this post. It is interesting to see how many people sited Park's work (someone I was unaware of until I read your post).  This lead me to work of Gunner Myrdal, Marlon Ross, and other scholars who cite his work. Ralph Ellison wrote of Park, "Dr. Robert F. Park was both a greater scientist and, in his attitude toward Negroes, a greater democrat than William Graham Sumner."

This will keep me busy for a while, I can't comment as some of this thinking a new to me.

robert-park.jpg

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