Though our class was briefly interrupted last week with that lovely display of Colorado’s finest spring weather (and hey, guess what the weather man said about tonight?? We very well may find ourselves buried under more of the white stuff in a matter of hours, people!), it is safe to say we find ourselves back on track. To briefly review, this week, we have dissected the Alger Myth and discussed its relate-ability to contemporary homelessness. In addition, we began the process of writing our first paper for the course, and began to select topics for our papers. A very hot topic that arose from this week’s discussion came in the form of racial identity and how that plays a role in homelessness. Dalton’s article suggests (well, more than suggests – more like punches the reader in the face with the idea) that by not including race as an element in his story, Alger was fueling racism. Considering the time this story was written and published, we all know that racial tension at the time was strong, and racial questions kept popping up. The question, then, is this – by ignoring race all together, does Alger suggest that other races were insignificant and not worth mentioning? By not saying anything about racial groups that were in fact present in the city at the time, does Alger’s any-one-can-make-it-in-this-world-if-they-try-hard-enough theory exclude these races? What are your thoughts about race and contemporary homelessness? Are these ideas (the challenges to Alger’s theory in reference to race) outdated, or does race still play a large part in the problem of homelessness?
For a quick look at statistics, including race and homelessness in Denver, consider visiting DU’s site for Project Homeless Connect:
http://www.du.edu/homelessness/about-homelessness/
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Horatio Alger omitted race completely in his novel, because for the time the so-called "American Dream" was not at all accessible for those people of color. Both Black and Irish people had no means to obtain that dream because they were seen as inferior and kept in poverty by those with power. Alger recognized this and fueled racism even further, by basically saying that elevating yourself to a higher status was not possible for other races other than American White.
ReplyDeleteIn contemporary issues of homelessness and poverty, I do believe that race is a major issue simply because of the history of these people in America. All people of color at one point were oppressed in one way or another, and that starting point leads to a chain of events to why some people are where they are today. People of color were sectioned in certain parts of cities, and not allowed to live anywhere else. From there jobs that allowed these people to be a working lower class, were eliminated and instead of moving upward, the next generations were degraded to lower living conditions to the point that someone of them became homeless. Of course there are many other factors that contribute to homelessness, but the fact remains that these people were and still are oppressed and perpetuate poverty because to this day there still is no cycle to get us out, only to put us back in.
I think that in Horatio Alger's novel, he ignores the issue of race because it was the easiest thing for him to do. If he had included race into the plot-line, he would have been faced with countless more challenges when developing his overall message. The "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps" mentality that he uses throughout the story is completely ignoring the context of an environment someone (a Black child for instance) grows up in, and how that would affect their chance at success. The setting of the novel is right after the Emancipation Proclamation took place, and there were still tons of segregation and discrimination issues present in society. There would have been, and still are today, many challenges that people of color face that white people do not. Horatio Alger is not taking the environment into consideration when forming the advice he subliminally gives throughout "Ragged Dick." I don't think that homelessness (whether back then or currently) is something easily surmountable, and even from a white boy's perspective, the emphasis that Alger places on luck is unrealistic.
ReplyDeleteBy only using white characters (except Mickey from Ireland) Alger suggests the social climate of the time. During this period, slavery and segregation were still engrained in the way of life. This book represents segregation in that Alger writes it only for white boys. If he had written the book for black boys as well, he would have included an African American boy and traced his struggle upwards, in tandem with Dick’s.
ReplyDeleteBecause of the exclusive nature of Alger’s tales, the bootstrap-myth that grew from them does not take into account the unique obstacles facing people of color. People of color can still abide by, believe in, and embody the pull-yourself-up-from-your-bootstraps philosophy. However, this philosophy may be more difficult to embody because of the racism faced and the negative legacies of slavery.
Race still plays a large part in the problem of homelessness and poverty. In Barack Obama’s speech on race, he outlines how slavery and racism have contributed to poverty in the United States and many of the nation’s other problems. Although this speech may seem like a random text to bring into our discussion, I feel like it addresses many of the issues we have been talking about and is really relevant. To check out a video of it, copy and paste this URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWe7wTVbLUU. Around minute 18, there is an excerpt that is particularly telling of how slavery and racism have contributed to issues of poverty.
Since the discovery of America, race has played an important issue in society. From the genocide of Native Americans, to slavery of Africans and Asians, the system of oppression is still in place till today. Horatio Alger openly ignored the existent of people of color. He chose not to write about people of color in his book. His idea of social mobility is only for the white race. Take the main character as an example, as a white male Dick is able to receive assistant from Frank and Mr. Whitney without them questioning his background. When Dick saved the kid from the river, he was able to seen as a hero. Dick is also able to rent a room without further questioning by the landlord because theses are white privileges.
ReplyDeleteI believed that race play a large part in the problem of homelessness. Looking at the statistics from DU’s website, people who are able to receive information to come to Project Homeless Connect are mostly white. This statistic does not surprise me due to the fact people who are able to receive information are the ones receiving proper resources. Historically, people of color tend to have less agencies provide resources to assist them. Working at a non-profit, I have seen large amounts of resources provided for people, however, there are few specifically dedicated to people of color. I believe cultural appropriation is necessary to provide public good.
The “pulling yourself up from your bootstrap” mentality assumes to much—what if you don’t have bootstraps to begin with? Dick had a busy because some how he had obtained his materials of a brush and shine to be a bootblack. Those metaphorical “bootstraps” gave him the opportunity to earn a wage. What Alger ignores are those children that have no tools, no skills, and no “bootstraps” to earn their respectable way out of poverty and homelessness. In connection to the race factor would it make a difference if a child was African-American or Euro-American on who respectable gentleman would allow to shine their shoes? Regardless if one agrees that race has significance to Alger’s stories one cannot deny that it is a key factor within today’s homeless. With project Homeless Connect the factor of race is exposed when registering. It is clear when the volunteer is asked if he or she knows Spanish that race is indeed a factor. As the Hispanic population increase in homelessness so does the need for a bilingual translation. With the next wave of immigration it may not be Spanish speakers that Project Homeless Connect needs it may shift to an Arabic dialect. Whom America oppresses is a shifting factor but how America oppresses is still the same.
ReplyDeleteThe omition of race is an interesting strategy of Alger. It can be assumed that all of the characters besides Mickey are white, although I do not think that it is impossible to see things from another perspective. You cannot say there is absolutely no chance Dick couldn't be some other ethnicity because there is no explicit description. I would agree that he is most likely white, but you cannot say that there is not possibility he is not. With that being said, I think Alger left out race just to make writing the story easier. Giving every character a race would require a great deal more characterization because he would have to characterize races.
ReplyDeleteIn looking at race and homelessness it is clear that a disproportionate amount of the homeless are of ethnicities other than caucasian. However, when approaching the issue of homelessness we must work to help everyone out of their situation. There is nothing that can be done to correct the oppression that occurred by previous generations. There are still changes that have to be made with regard to homelessness, but I think to focus on race would be an injustice to those it didn't help.
n Horatio Alger's novel "Ragged Dick" the issue of race is clearly not mentioned in the novel. But whether this is because Alger is trying to "maintain the racial pecking order" as Dalton says, or just leaving it out because it is easiest is yet to be decided. While I very clearly see both sides of the argument, I think that Alger simply left the issue of race out because it made the most sense for his story. His story is not really about the exact conditions of the time. When saying that his race depiction was not realistic because he ignored it, I think the same could also be said of his depiction oh homeless life and how easy it was for Dick to go from rags to riches. But in all honesty, that is exactly the point of the story. It isn't supposed to be exactly truthful and depict reality as it really is. It's a fairy tale and that is what Alger is focusing on, getting his message across. By not putting in the issue of race he makes his message much clearer to his audience. I think that Alger was very aware of the issue of race at the time, but simply chose not to put it in this book because it would've sent mixed and confusing messages. Overall I don't really know what Alger was thinking or how people responded to this novel at the time, but in my mind I think Alger left the issue of race out because it made the most sense for his story and the message he wanted his story to have.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Alger did not include other races, because at the time that the novel Ragged Dick was written, race was irrelevant. Race was not included, because it was not typical at the time for a child of color to rise up in society in such a way.
ReplyDeleteIn Writ 1122, we discussed rhetoric as the main theme. Part of rhetoric is writing for the audience. Since Ragged Dick is a children’s novel, written in the late 1800s, it is very likely that the children who were able to read the novel were white. The children who read this novel were likely able to relate to Dick’s character, as well as Dick as an individual. If Dick were a race besides Caucasian, children reading the novel at the time it was written, would likely not believe the novel. I think Alger was conscious of his audience and left race out for that reason.
Race related to homelessness is a much bigger issue nowadays as opposed to the time of the novel Ragged Dick. Contemporary homelessness would be hard to write about without including many races. If Alger were writing a novel such as Ragged Dick today, he would likely include the issues and struggles of other races.
While I completely understand where the other side of the argument stands, I do not agree that Alger was fueling racism by not acknowledging it in "Ragged Dick". While I do not condone racism, it would have been a more conventional practice back in the time period in which Alger wrote “Ragged Dick”. Yet that is not really the issue. If one were to accept that races is practically omitted, does that mean the message of the story has a narrow focus as well? As many posters before me have stated, race in relation to homelessness has become more of a prevalent issue in more modern times. Whether it is right or wrong, it was a fact of the times that children in the minority races did not have access to the “American dream” like other children did. Perhaps Alger just thought of this issue as common knowledge, something that did not need to be addressed because (at the time) everyone knew it and accepted it to some extent. I would have to say that Alger’s theory of “anyone can make it”/”pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” is very contextual. At the time in which “Ragged Dick” was written and takes place, yes it most likely excludes those of other races besides typical American-white. Yet I do not think the message need be lost among a more diverse audience. Now children who are unfortunate enough to have been relegated to the streets, or anyone really, have a more equal playing field than Dick and his comrades had in the 1800’s. Nowadays, it would be easy enough for anyone to imagine himself or herself dealing with the struggles that Dick has to deal with.
ReplyDeleteThe deliberate exclusion of the topic of race in Ragged Dick is a topic I am still struggling with for a few reasons. In one aspect i do believe that to not mention anything about it further ignores the problems which means that if you are not doing anything to stop the problem then you are a part of the cause. In this case it is clear that by not mentioning race or race relations especially in such a topic the author is further perpetuating the very problem he is ignoring. On the other hand a part of me also believes that his deliberate exclusion of this topic was based on the fact that he didnt' see this as the place to talk about race, especially looking at the context in which he was writing and the time period. Not all writers are meant to incite change and bring on thoughts and ideas that provoke the social norms and normative ideologies of the time. Some writers write just to write and the things they left out sometimes really don't mean more than that.
ReplyDeleteRace and contemporary homelessness go hand in hand because if you look at the figures of the percentage of homeless it is clear that race is a huge factor and the question is why. In my very oversimplified and basic answer i see the issue to be the fact that people of color have a much harder time being successful in this country and this is not to say that they can't or that it is impossible but rather the hurdles and challenges they face are much greater. It is like a race that they are never really meant to win because they don't set the rules, they don't start out on the same line, and the hurdles they have to jump are much different and greater soley based on the circumstances surrounding their race. It is true, racism still exist in America and we are still bound by the shackles that were set in the earlier years.
Horatio Alger did not mention race in "Ragged Dick," or any other socio-economic factors that existed in the 1860's because he was writing a didactic novel for children. His goal was not to portray homelessness and what causes it realistically, but to tell a story with a moral to young white boys.
ReplyDeleteYou may wonder why I am saying that Alger was writing to "white boys" if race was not specifically mentioned in the novel. Alger's audience was children, and in the 1860's blacks were mostly illiterate, women were still thought of as care takers rather than people who should be equally educated, and most immigrants were European and encouraged to succeed in a capitalist society through hard work.
Dick is constructed as admirable and self-made, and these are characteristics that Alger is encouraging in order to promote the notion of the "American Dream." In Alger's novel, homelessness is not the subject. It is aen element that propels the events of the story. It creates a condition for Dick to rise up from.
I believe Horatio Alger omitted race from Ragged Dick because he did not want to draw away from the optimistic rags-to-riches children’s novel. This story is not intended to be a controversial novel exploring the depths of poverty issues. Instead, it is a novel intended to encourage children to believe that the so-called myth of pulling themselves up by their bootstraps. Why should Alger introduce the already complicated topic of race to such a young audience?
ReplyDeleteWhile I recognize that at this time period it would have been difficult, if not impossible, for a non-white boy to gain the same opportunities and respect that Ragged Dick receives, I do not think Alger excluded these races in order to prove that his optimistic message does not apply to them. When looking at the statistics from the cited website, I found it interesting that the majority of homeless people in Denver and in the general population are white. It states that specifically 59.4% of homeless people in Denver are white and 90.3% in the general population of homeless people are white. If so many homeless people in America are white, then it is possible that the criticisms of Alger’s theory in reference to race are in fact outdated. In addition, I would like to believe that at this point in time homeless people of all races have the same opportunities to improve their living conditions. Ragged Dick is simply a children’s story written to teach children to be motivated and demonstrate that it is possible to improve your status in society. By excluding race, Alger allows this novel to reach a broader audience because it can be applied to children of any race if we do not take into consideration the time of publication.
Personally, I believe that Horatio Alger’s decision to not include race in his novel was a smart choice. This decision helped the reader understand the true meaning of a rags-to-riches story, regardless of race. By not including race in his novel, the characters were automatically set as equals, without any physical appearance issues that might set them back in life.
ReplyDeleteWhen Horatio Alger wrote his book racial discrimination was extremely prevalent. It is interesting to note that he didn’t include race in his story because it was such a major issue at the time. Numerous African Americans where not equal to whites yet, so they were at an automatic setback for succeeding in life, which would interfere with their probability of becoming homeless. Currently, I do not believe that race has a major effect on one’s probability of becoming homeless. The statistics of race and homelessness are relatively comparable to the statistics of race in America. I appreciate that Alger did not mention race in his novel, considering the time in which it took place, and it makes me feel equal to know that in modern day society an African American man and a white man have the same chance at becoming homeless.
Here's Briana's comment:
ReplyDeleteI think that Alger’s exclusion of race in Ragged Dick does in a way state that those races were not worth mentioning. However, i do think that that was the norm of the time, and therefore to be expected. i believe that the lack of race does give the impression that other races could not pull themselves up. I believe believe that there is a mistaken belief that the only people who are homeless are the ragged people we see sitting on the sidewalks and under bridges. I believe that many people forget that there are homeless people living in their cars, squatting, or living where they work.
I believe that in today's world, race does not play as large of a role in the perception of homelessness. However, I do believe that people of race are more acknowledge to become homeless. I believe that this is because of the lack of perceived education and graduation rates, the lack of diversity in the high pay grade, and the increased levels of drug use and mental illness in minority populations. In this way, i do believe that homelessness does play a large role in homelessness to this day.
Alger’s rags-to-riches story could apply to nearly anybody now days. However, it is MUCH harder to do so today without a diploma or some sort. because there are more expectations of the worker today, it is a much more costly and intricate process to become “respectable” and get an “honest” job. Without being terribly clever, a practiced lier, or a genius, it is hard to navigate the job market with no real former experience. It does not help that if someone does gain those riches, they are likely to become substance abusers. This can trigger the cycle that got them into the homeless community in the first place, and is thus a tempting situation that a modern Dick Hunter could encounter.