Is My Reading Response crippled by my Race?

            Beloved brings up many African American race issues. I remember being in a discussion group and a reader response question being brought up. I would like to use the question for my blog, but by no means is it directed to the person, I just thought the question raised reflects a great issue. It was asked if we (the group) believed it could be possible to understand the literature better, or easier, if we were indeed the same race as the author of the novel. Before declaring this question asinine I thought about this both ways. Yes, there could be language discrepancies. Not all words used between cultures translate into others and sometimes there can be cultural lingo that is easier understood by the same culture. However, the question did not question the difference in dialogue, it questioned the color of the author. But then I thought, there are differences that cultures experiences other do not.  So maybe yes, it would be easier to understand an experience had I been through it. But I was not a slave, I have no idea what that is like, I maybe at an advantage as a person of color to the mistreatment of my people, but that does not help me in the experience it was for someone who was a slave. The more and more I weighed it out in my head the more I concluded this question was very wrong. And it is the acceptance in allowing these question is where we grow fault.

            In The Social Construction of Race by Ian F. Lopez, he  points out that there are no genetic characteristics possessed by all Black that are not possessed by other races. This idea that we all contain differences that separate us into these different groups of “Caucasoid”, “Negroid”, and “Mongoloid” were developed on inflicted on us.  After all, individual acts are not representative of the shade of someone’s skin. Reminding us that race is a social construct based on “human interaction rather than natural differentiation” because “racial meanings arise has been labeled racial formation”.  All these highlights the fact that we are not different, we are taught we have differences. We developed these categories we often talk about in class. (I wonder why someone can be born female, but choose to neglect that and be empowered for associating differently, while people continue to be chained to their skin color, unable to step out of the bounds that deem them colored)

            The fact that this question seems possible is because we have been programmed to believe that this is a real thing. Just like believing Black on Black crime is a thing, when White on White crime is not (and 80% of killings are white on white).  So lets flip the question. Is it hard for African Americans to read or educate themselves when up until the early 19^th century there was only white men published literature period and most studying material today is still this way. Is it hard for any ethnicity or even woman to read a dictionary or study a book because they do not share the cultural background their reader is writing about? It doesn’t quite make sense the other way around. It sounds pretty stupid. We are not taught that understanding Caucasian material would bring any reader response difficulty. However, the fact that the author is African American, it allows us to question if the material is race transitional in understanding. Why do we question the author based on their race when we are not having a discussion on the individual author experiences. The question does not seem relevant or real. At the end of the day when asked that question. My only question to myself can be. “Have I ever had a hard time reading all the books I have read my entire life, because 90% of my authors are Caucasian and I am mixed and they are not.”