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Toni Morrison Has Died

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Re: Toni Morrison Has Died

#101

Post by dang »

MrRadar wrote: post #82
bubblewrap wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"the way you used it is exactly how a racist would use it to mock a black person." I still don't see what exactly is so mocking about it. Yes, I was perhaps "conjuring up" a stereotypical scenario. So what? Clearly, the stereotype exists. Even if it doesn't reflect reality, imo it would still be valid to refer to the stereotype, as the stereotype exists and is part of reality. The much celebrated Toni Morrison book a…

> nobody should be forced to spend time learning about the behavior of racists. Why should they? To recognize racists around you so you can avoid them or call them out? To avoid accidentally saying racist things yourself? > I reject this as an attempt to control other people's life, with the power of being a minority. Okay, so you are racist. Goodbye.

I banned that account earlier, but posting like this is also a bannable offense. It's not ok to break the site guidelines, regardless of how badly another commenter did so. That way is a spiral down to hell—therefore please don't.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Toni Morrison Has Died

#102

Post by badcede »

takeout wrote: post #69
Lordarminius wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ummm... She was great at what she did, and in all certainty, a literary giant. But "one of the most revered writers in human history" ? Nope.

> Canadian writer Margaret Atwood wrote in a review for the New York Times, "Ms. Morrison's versatility and technical and emotional range appear to know no bounds. If there were any doubts about her stature as a pre-eminent American novelist, of her own or any other generation, 'Beloved' will put them to rest." From the 1987 review of Beloved. Sure, maybe I was a bit hyperbolic, but it is essentially unarguable that…

That was more than a bit hyperbolic. If you'd started with this wording, no one would have objected.

Re: Toni Morrison Has Died

#103

Post by o-__-o »

I met Toni Morrison when I was 12. She was kinda rude to me, I wonder if it’s because I didn’t see her as anything but an accomplished author. I’ve always wondered about that moment if she intentionally was rude or was just anxious from being in the spotlight at the time. I don’t know why I thought during all these years that I would get to meet her again.. I was planning to be more adept at conversation with her. Correlate coding to historic writings.. but this post is a sobering wake up call.

Phone your mum, tell her you love her. My mom was inspired by Toni Morrison.

Re: Toni Morrison Has Died

#104

Post by goto11 »

Insuranceman wrote: post #19

My first intro to Morrison was thru 'The Bluest Eye'. Afterwards I read many of her books incl 'Beloved'. I loved all of them. One thing I could however never understand was how a person with such deep insights into the African American experience could call Bill Clinton, 'the first Black President'. I thought at first maybe there was something I didn't understand. But as years passed, I've been increasingly feeling…

Did she even say that? What is the direct quote?

Re: Toni Morrison Has Died

#105

Post by goto11 »

kwindla wrote: post #26
Insuranceman wrote: post #19

My first intro to Morrison was thru 'The Bluest Eye'. Afterwards I read many of her books incl 'Beloved'. I loved all of them. One thing I could however never understand was how a person with such deep insights into the African American experience could call Bill Clinton, 'the first Black President'. I thought at first maybe there was something I didn't understand. But as years passed, I've been increasingly feeling…

She explains it here: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1998/10/05/comment-6543 tldr: It's complicated. But to over-simplify: the Clintons had black friends, seemed to genuinely believe that black people were just as qualified for prestigious/important jobs as anyone else, and Bill Clinton had both a personal background and expressed himself in ways that resonated with many black Americans. None of that had ever bee…

I'm confused - the link does not say the things you say about black friends or considering black people just as qualified. None of what she says is related to his attitudes or policies towards blacks.

It doesn't even say she considers Clinton the first black president. Just that someone unspecified have been saying that.

Re: Toni Morrison Has Died

#106

Post by goto11 »

cgh wrote: post #99
magpi3 wrote: post #11

I love reading, but only a handful of books have really changed the way I look at the world. The Bluest Eye was one of them. Minor spoiler: in the bluest eye a young black girl obsesses over a white female doll with blue eyes. Before I read it, I never considered the impact that the idealization of white beauty could have on minorities. After reading that book, I realized how important it was for children to be able…

To be fair, Tolkien explicitly set out to create a Northern European pre-history or mythology. I am not sure if he even considered non-European readers as his audience. A good parallel might be the love many Westerners have for anime.

To be fair - I don't think the comment was criticizing Tolkien. It was just making an observation.

Re: Toni Morrison Has Died

#107

Post by jrochkind1 »

jrochkind1 wrote: post #92
commandlinefan wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had never heard of her, or any of her books - I went to primary school in the 80’s, though. Is she somebody that’s only recently been included in the curriculum in the past few decades?

Well, _Beloved_ for instance was published in 1987, and Jazz, also mentioned in this thread, in 1992. Her first novel, _The Bluest Eye_, in 1970. But yeah, I would say she has continued to increase in popularity (popularly and in school curriculums) since the 1980s, although some high schoolers were probably reading her works in the 80s. I graduated from high school in 1983, and read Beloved in a class.

I meant to say graduated from high school in 1993, typo!

Re: Toni Morrison Has Died

#108

Post by selimthegrim »

selimthegrim wrote: post #83
rc_hadoken wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm black African. And most of my role models don't look like me. Musashi, Taleb, Frederick Douglas is in there as an exception etc. But when I look at someone who has accomplished what I want to the first thing that adds to motivation is not that they look like me...this is a wildly debilitating mindset I know it exists but lets not make it out to be healthy.

Maybe if you were African American it would be that they would have overcome similar skin color based obstacles

https://nypost.com/2019/08/01/mechanic-switches-gears-to-bec...
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