Similarity and Differences

A similarity and difference between How Bigger Was Born and Do the Right Thing are between Radio Raheem and Mookie. In How Bigger Was Born,  Richard Wright said, “If a Negro rebels against rule… his is lynched” (439). Radio Raheem rebelled against Sal by bringing his radio inside Sal’s Famous and not turning it off. Later, because Raheem wouldn’t turn his music off, Sal fought him and eventually the police came and physically hung Raheem by holding him up by his neck, with his feet off the ground, so he couldn’t breathe. Like Wright said in How Bigger Was Born Raheem rebelled against Sal’s rule and therefore was lynched. It seems that ultimately a black man is at a disadvantage in justice because Wright didn’t say that when all people rebel, they are hanged; he said when “negroes” rebel they are lynched. Black people lived in an unjust and unfair society. By throwing the garbage can at Sal’s Famous, Mookie demonstrated how he was trying to save Sal and his family because Sal’s family would have been mobbed and killed if the attention hadn’t been turned to their pizzeria. Mookie was one who was an example of a “so called leader” by Richard Wright. Mookie “went hand in hand with the powerful whites and helped to keep their groaning brothers in line, for that was the safest course of action” (439). Mookie didn’t rebel for the black people, he rebelled to save Sal’s families life. For Mookie the “safest course” of action was by throwing the garbage can and redirecting the mob’s attention. He wasn’t working for his fellow blacks, he was working for Sal. Therefore Mookie can’t be referred to as a leader for the blacks. A leader is one who acts, by rebelling, for their own race.  

Power- Document 2: A Delicate Balance

Each member should then read their assigned document(s) and do a post on their blog that summarizes the document(s) (what was it, who said or wrote it, what were the key ideas) and then answers one of the questions that follows the document (you can choose which question to respond to).

Carl Stokes wrote what he remembered from listening to the SCLC telling him that there were major problems for him from the Cleveland riots. Dr. King came down to Cleveland to help him to become mayor even though Stokes had already won. Stokes said to King talking about King coming to help Stokes, "We have got to win a political victory here. This is our chance to take over a power that is just unprecedented among black people. But I’m very concerned that if you come here you’re going to upset the balance we’ve created." In the end he had to tell King, who had come to Cleveland to take over the political party because of the riots, to leave beacuse King didnt know the city as well as Stokes did. Stokes had already almost won the mayor and he couldnt risk King changing the party to the unliking of the people.

What was Stokes’s concern about King’s presence in Cleveland? As a candidate? As a black person

who cared about civil rights? As an American?

Stokes was concerned that King would ruin the almost won mayor job in Cleveland because of popularity of King and change he would have brought. He thought King, because he didnt start the campaign and didnt grow up in Cleveland, wouldnt have enough knowledge of what was teh right decision to act on the people to get votes. He thought Kings views were a little different than what would have succeeded in Cleveland and he would disrupt success.

Power- Document 1: How to Get Elected By White People

The document was excerpts from Carl Stokes', a black politician running for Cleveland Mayor, memoir, Promises of Power: A Political Autobiography. The excerpts reflected on his rise to power. Key ideas are: "people, acting together, are power", Stokes was a lawyer who put all of his money into his campaign, "there is no more effective political force in teh black community than the church", Stokes was involved as much as possible in the community, he used his political power as an "alien" or minority to gain power, and he made his campain a copy of the campaign model of the italians of talking differently to each ethnic group of people so each group would think that the politician was in it for them and a melting pot for everyone else.

 In what ways did Stokes’s election represent a milestone for black power? What do you think his

1.

election meant for black citizens?

Since he was the first black mayor that was not only the first black mayor, but was a black mayor voted for by a majority of white people, he became the bridge of trust between whites trusting blacks. The election for black citizens meant that they would start to become more fairly treated but most importantly more fairly represented.