Even after emancipation and subsequent securing of rights, there were few situations in which an African American was truly equal to a white man. Boxing is one of these rare environments. As seen in "Champion of the World," the black community latches onto Joe Louis as a way to redeem its pride. The unbeatable Brown Bomber, "some Black mother's son," Louis is a testament to the fact that his race is not inferior, despite many years of being treated as such (Angelou 3). He carries the expectations of his race into every match; when he's winning, there is "murmuring assent," when he's losing, his "race [groans]" (Angelou 2). Each victory is a small blow to white society, a restoring of dignity.
That said, there is irony in the last paragraph when Angelou states "it wouldn't do for a Black man and his family to be caught on a lonely country road..." (Angelou 3). This sentence reveals the grim reality--even though Joe Louis won this fight, not much has changed. In the long run, there is still racism in society.
The last phrase struck me as odd, when Angelou says "Joe Louis had proved...we were the strongest people in the world" (Angelou 3). This seems a bit audacious to me, only serving to offend and promote more conflict. What happened to turning the other cheek? Perhaps it's a way to restore the pride lost by admitting that they haven't won much.
I like your analysis of the piece. I agree that when she says "we were the strongest people in the world," it seemed to be through pride. This probably, however, was the source of many more conflicts to come.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comment on how they declared themselves to be the strongest in the world. I wondered why an entire race could declare themselves to be the strongest when one member of their race won one fight. It reminds me how we declare American teams to be champions of the world when we only competed with other Americans.
ReplyDelete