Sunday, January 14, 2007
Response to Homeplace
Overall, heartfelt accounts. But, I felt that the story moved a bit slowly and repeated in certain areas almost. Perhaps to emphasize a point, I don't really know. I would like to know what period of time this was written in and about. Today, I don't see this as relevant to just African Americans. Everyone considers their home a "homeplace," otherwise what would it be? Everyone looks at their home as their safety area where they can rest and recharge. I didn't agree with her on that only African Americans do this. It was most defiantly harder for them to when this was written or the time period she was talking about, I'll give her that. Otherwise, it seems to just be writing common sense but a more specific personalized view on it.
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4 comments:
I agree with the fact that she was very redundant in her opinion. I felt like I was reading the same thing every other paragraph.
However, I do think her description of the homeplace had a lot more meaning than you're letting on. I agree that today, in the present time, the homeplace doesn't just hold significance to black families, but it was a very good point to show how they managed in such a time in the past. I don't think a white homeplace in the late 1800's / early 1900's held as much restoring "power" as it did for those black homeplaces trying to survive.
The homeplace for everyone is not always a place that you can go and be safe and recharge. I have lived in numerous locations where every knock on your door, you were on edge, every sound outside you were looking to see what it was. Call this paranoid, but given the circumstances it was being safe. It takes a certain atmosphere of companions and surroundings that will make someone feel safe, where it allows the person to enter a dwelling and be overcome by a feeling of warmth and love.
I agree that the white homeplace back in the day possiblely didn't hold the same value as it does now. But, I don't understad why there is such a big significance placed on the african american homeplace then and now.
I think hooks is emphasizes African-American culture because that is the subject of her essay. She's not saying other cultures don't use the home for these purposes (safety, resistance, etc.)...rather, she's pointing out how one particular culture uses the home.
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