Inside Milkman

In this blog post, I am writing from the perspective of Milkman from the Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison:



Before, I wasn't really aware of the people around me and what they were going through. I only took regard for myself and didn't consider other people's feelings. I used people. My sister Lena told me that her childhood revolved around me yet I never asked her how she was and showed no feelings of appreciation. I also hurt Hagar so bad that it eventually killed her. I used Hagar when I wanted her love but when I didn't want it anymore, I disregarded her and didn't consider the consequences.

I tried to be someone who I was not. I strutted around and showed off my materialistic wealth in hopes of being integrated into the white society. However, I still wasn't and I also didn't fit in the African American society. My financial status isolated me from the other African Americans because I couldn't connect with them and failed to understand what they were troubled by. I also couldn't understand their hatred for whites and how they were being treated unfairly for no reason. I always thought that in a murder of an African American by a white, it was the African American's fault. I thought that Emmett Till was responsible for his own death.

Then one day, it hit me. Guitar and I had just left Pilate's house with the sack that we thought contained gold. We were driving back to Guitar's place when we were pulled over by the cops. I was so confused as to why this happened because I wasn't speeding nor was I driving recklessly. I was following all the rules. Yet I was still pulled over. This got me thinking and I finally realized that the only reason Guitar and I were pulled over was because of our skin color. Then, I realized that no matter what I do, what clothes I wear, what car I drive, what actions I do will not affect the fact that I am black. I will always be black in society's eyes. There is no way I can change my racial identity.

This realization made me realize that the murder of Emmett Till was not caused by what Till said or did but was caused by his racial identity. All the violence and oppression that my community was facing wasn't because of what they did but was because of who they were.

Comments

  1. Allison WeiNovember 3, 2019 at 12:55 PM

    wow that ending gave me chills. I love how you included the detail about how MIlkman was isolated from the rest of the African American community - I feel like society often lumps minorities and groups of people into categories, when the reality is much more complex. Isn't it strange that even within different groups there are hierarchies as well?

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