Going Against the Grain

How do you convey yourself in your writing? Do you depict yourself as an ambitious intellect? Maybe you tell the world that you’re a nurturing person stricken by a past of hardships. There are hundreds of ways one can create themselves in their writing, but being of a certain race could cause one to define who they are in a specific way.

In the book, Traces of a Stream, the chapter titled Going Against the Grain discusses different aspects of literacy amongst African-American females. One topic discussed is called the formation of ethos. Following the acquisition of literacy, writers face the need to form an ethos, which “permits the writer to create and present to the world a dynamic speaking and writing self” (Royster 168). This means that a writer begins to work towards making their identity apparent through their writing. In the case of African-American females, we feel we have to form an ethos that contradicts cultural expectations and stereotypes. Why, you ask? As a minority group that gets very little recognition, respect, and that has suffered years of exploitation, we feel an urgency to tell the world that we’re not what they think we are. Once more African-American females acquired a high level of literacy, they took advantage of their skills as writers to dispute the misconceptions that society pinned on black women.

Though it is unfortunate that many African-American writers have felt a need to constantly prove themselves through their writing, I do believe it’s had a positive impact on the black youth. It gives young black children an opportunity read about people that don’t fit the description of how society depicts a black person. As the influence continues, it will become a norm to read about African-Americans making a positive impacts in the world as opposed to ending up in jail cells.