I didn't have a chance to present my proposal in class, so here it is...sort of. I had a vaguely interesting (to me) topic in mind, but a few of the details had yet to be worked out, including which critical/analytical piece I would make use of. Then I found out that we had the option of rewriting one of the fictional stories we read, which sounds a lot more enticing. I enjoy writing both ways, but I haven't had the opportunity to write creatively in a long time. At the moment, I only have in mind a handful of stories that I'd like to rewrite, although I'm leaning heavily towards The Space Traders. With all that in mind, I wanted to share my original half-formed proposal, since I didn't hear anything similar in class. Enjoy.
The idea of trying to bridge the racial gap is something we've touched on quite often in class, though less often directly addressed. This gap stems from, among other things, a lack of understanding and communication between different cultural and racial groups. That suggests to me, and perhaps to some of the authors whose works we've read, that some sort of "ambassador" between races is needed. DuBois, in The Conservation of Races, pushed for the intellectual black community to take a more prominent stance and demonstrate what the African American population is capable of. In Derrick Bell's The Space Traders, Professor Golightly serves as the black representative on the President's cabinet, and both white and black human rights activists cooperate to prevent the deportation of the entire African American population. However, I would argue that neither black intellectuals nor liberal white rights activists can be as effective in patching up relations between racial groups as their mixed-race children.
Where black intellectuals appeal only to a small percentage of the opposing population, and where white activists often find themselves lumped in with the black population or are considered to be extremist and irrational, mixed race individuals occupy a unique position. While they must fight the derision with which they are looked upon by a percentage of either side, they are unique in that they possess an inherent, internal understanding of and investement in both races. This understanding allows them to interact and reason with either side better than any other group could.
Of course, a perfect example of this would be Butler's Akin, although Lilith's Brood is technically closed to us (see? someone was thinking about Butler after all!). More or less a moot point, because I do enjoy my creative writing.
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