Summer

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Dave Smith

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Summer Essay

In Sweet Summer, Bebe Moore Campbell tells her own life story. A lot of it is about fitting into the "white" world and finding out who she really is. Bebe and her family members felt that African Americans always felt as if they had to compete with whites, and either be as good or better than them. African Americans thought that speaking proper English and being educated was going to make them seem white. African Americans thought that "good hair" was white people's hair, and they always tried to make their hair look straight, because then they would have "good hair" and look more white. In the book Sweet Summer, the attempt by African Americans to fit into the "white world" is important because people were putting down their own race for being educated or so called "acting white."

African Americans always felt as if they had to compete with whites, and either had to be as good as them or even better. Not only the parents put these ideas into the children's heads, but also their teachers. Mrs. Clark, Bebe's teacher, was putting many ideas in children's heads. African Americans believed that whites were always trying to compete with them, and also thought they were superior over African Americans. "Even while the remaining whites anxiously sought buyers for their houses, they made no pretense of equality. They assumed that they were our superiors." Mrs. Clark was making it seem like everything African Americans did in life had to be a competition with whites, "We have to be twice as good as white children at everything they attempted in life, that way you got half a chance of making it."p.4. Nana and Bebe's mother believed that to have the same education as a white child was the first step up the rocky road to success. Almost every person in Sweet Summer has had an issue where they felt as if they had to compete with another race, whether African Americans or whites. Nobody should feel that they have to compete with somebody, and try to be something they are not, because then nobody knows who you really are because you are too busy trying to fit up to somebody else's standards instead of being yourself.

Bebe always had her mother and aunt hovering over her, and making her speak proper English, but Bebe considered it "acting white" and felt that in order to be considered black she could not speak in a white manner. Many people felt that they needed to have power. This occurred in many situations, "Being there(Wagner's) wasn't any more fun than being at the Imperial, but it made me feel more powerful"p.64. Bebe tried to teach her father proper English, taking after her mother and aunt. "She corrects everybody. Besides, what's wrong with speaking properly?"p.68. Bebe's grandmother was always putting things into Bebe's head, whether it was good or bad. Nana had an idea that there always had to be competition with whites, "All those white folks down on that job and you get the promotion, and you tellin' me not to brag?" p.7. There was always competition with whites and blacks in how they did in school, competing against each other, and either trying to be as good or better than them. "What the white children learned, that's what her child had to learn." p.8. Bebe's mother put many ideas into her head about why speaking proper English was the right thing to do. "Speaking impeccably proper English was a strategy in the overall battle for civil rights. Bebe, we have got to be prepared." There are many different perspectives in the book about what "acting white" is. Speaking correct English should not be a put down, because no matter how you talk, that should not put a label on you. You are what you are, and being educated should not be labeled as being white. If somebody is not educated, that should not be labeled as acting black, or talking black. Labels put races down, and the people do it even to their own races.

Some African Americans felt they had to change their natural looks, to be something they are not. They thought that "good hair" was white people's hair, and tried to make their hair look straight. Bebe was trying to fit into the white world, and have "good hair." Bebe finally realized that she didn't have to fit in with anybody, and could be whoever she wanted to be, and her hairstyle proved that was true. Just because different races have different hair does not mean that one is better than the other. Respecting herself and singling herself out shows how different she is, and she can be different and not care about what people say. She also gets negative talk from her friends, "Every girl who gets her hair washed doesn't get it straightened. Bebe doesn't get her hair straightened. We have good hair."p.16-17. When Bebe's grandmother put her down, because of her changed hairstyle, Bebe felt discouraged because she just tried to prove that she could be different and kept telling herself "black is beautiful"p. to make herself feel better, and feel like she didn't have to be the everyday girl, and could be that one black child that doesn't have straight hair or talk black to make her seem white, which seems like all her grandmother wanted. I don't think that Bebe's grandmother ever saw through the hurt that she caused Bebe that day, because Bebe didn't feel like she could stand up to somebody like her grandmother. When she tried to stand up for herself, and tell her grandmother how she felt, her grandmother still denied her the right to be an individual. "You rather I go around burning my hair up trying to look like people I'm never going to look like?"p.00. Even though Bebe ended up washing out her afro, she at least had the courage to stand up to her grandmother and mother. I don't think they should have put her down, when all she was doing was showing the expressions of herself. She should have kept it the way it was if she really had a strong opinion about it. She should have stuck with her feeling, and not care about what anybody else thought about it.

African Americans thought that talking like they were educated and speaking proper English was going to make them seem "white" and felt that they were putting down their own races. African Americans always seemed to think that they had to be competing with whites, whether it was in a good way or a bad way. They felt as if they had to be at least as good as them or even better than them. They thought that "good hair" was white people's hair, and always tried to make their hair look straight, because then they would have "good hair." Bebe had a lot of women protecting her, people like her mother who felt that in order to make it in this world she would have to speak proper English. To Bebe, speaking proper English would make her seem "white." Bebe had many people telling her different things, including her mom, grandmother, and teachers. They made her think that everything that had to do with whites had to be a competition. Everybody thought that having good hair meant to have straight, "white" hair. Bebe finally realized that she didn't have to keep going along with something she didn't agree with. She took a stand and that's what her hairstyle was all about. African Americans tried hard to fit into the "white world", and weren't being who they really were. If they had shown their true side, that would have been better than trying to be something that they weren't. They realized that they didn't have to fit into anybody else's standards, and could be whoever they wanted to be, no longer worrying about what other people think, and not putting down their own race for "acting white."

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