A segregation of literature

Ethnic, American Literature at SPU: Separate but equal?

By NATHANIEL SHOCKEY, Editorials Writer

Published: January 11, 2006

As I near the end of my final year as an English major, I would like to volunteer a few reflections.

To start, in the fall of 2005, I took a class called American Ethnic Literature. Doesn't this title reek of affirmative action? To focus a class on Ethnic Literature seems to clearly suggest that much of what we read would not find itself in the canon of American Literature if exceptions were not made.

For the record, some of what we read was among the best literature I have ever come across. Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man," for example, or David Hwang's "M. Butterfly," leave you with much more to ponder than, "Boy, it sure sucked to be oppressed by those white people." These works plunge into the depths of the human experience, the nature of our humanity, our goodness, and our darkness. They are simply great literature. I would also highly recommend James Johnson's "The Autobiography of an Ex-Coulored Man."

After being immersed in "ethnic literature" for over two months, it has become obvious that there is no need to pay special attention to minority literature on account of its minority-ness. English majors should be reading this stuff anyway.

SPU is probably preoccupied with appearing diverse and multicultural. With its overwhelming campaign for reconciliation, loosing racial tensions, and shrugging off these intolerant, mortal coils, the fact that SPU offers/requires a class focusing on American minority literature is pretty standard, really. But let's get down to it. If the purpose of this class is simply to highlight the minority experience in a country founded by white people, it should be called American Literature of the Oppressed, or American Social Literature. If the class is meant to be about social issues, then title it accordingly.

But under its current guise, the class called American Ethnic Literature seems another way of saying, "Contrary to what you may think, American ethnic minorities are actually quite capable wordsmiths."

Michael Smith, a columnist for ESPN.com, wrote a column that focused on the wealth of great minority coaches in the NFL. Several of them, just this year, are viable candidates for the coach of the year award. At the end of his article, Smith states, "I hope we've come to view black coaches in the way that their players address them: simply as 'Coach.'"

I echo Smith's sentiments, saying that I hope we have come to view the literature of American ethnic writers in the way we view any type of American writing: simply as "American literature."

One concern is that, if American Ethnic Literature was nixed from the class list, and its contents, subsequently transferred exclusively to American Literature classes, much would go unread simply because of the limited number of American Literature classes required of Literature majors. They only have to take two. The best solution, I think, would be to spend more time on the writings of those great men and women who have helped to shape our country, for better or for worse. When I graduate, I will not have had to read one novel by Hemingway, Fitzgerald, or Steinbeck. How these authors have slipped through the cracks of required literature is quite beyond my comprehension.

My recommendation? Add another American Literature course to the Core Courses -- one that includes Ellison and Hemingway.

To anyone studying the English language and its deep roots, it is imperative to study Shakespeare, Chaucer, Donne, and several others. But let us also remember that in the last 230 years, the United States has turned the English language into something uniquely American, and this evolution is absolutely worthy of a careful, thorough analysis.

The most important goal of literature is, I think, to express humanity with all its interests, joys, sorrows, and distractions. This is why I majored in literature and why I think it is worthy of a four-year degree.

I encourage the SPU decision-makers to reconsider the purpose of American Ethnic Literature. Perhaps change it to a social course about the struggles of ethnic Americans, or simply replace it with an additional course of American Literature, in which great works by ethnic Americans would certainly find a comfortable niche. Spending more time studying the literature that defines and shapes our country would benefit the English department and every English major. After all, American literature not only describes how we got here, but may even be the quiet, steady force that helped us on our way.

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