Check out ExxonMobil Masterpiece Theatre's American Collection website at pbs.org for additional teacher information

Discussing Race Through Cora Unashamed
By Yvonne Divans-Hutchinson

To help you nagivate through this compilation of thoughts, use the links below:

Classroom Dialogue
Opinions on use of the "N" Word
One Student's Opinion
Discussion Questions

As a classroom teacher, I believe that the strength of "Cora, Unashamed" lies in the characterization of its protagonist. Cora, faced with racism and oppression, remains undaunted.  Hughes writes, "Cora was like a tree -- once rooted, she stood, in spite of storms and strife, wind, and rocks, in the earth."

The story is full of historical, social and psychological nuances. Teachers would do well to allow students to read and construct their own meanings.  This way, students could discover the plethora of themes and universalities for themselves. Additionally, they would also savor Hughes' rich character development, as well as the lyricism of the story itself.

One caveat which might be necessary is to alert students to the datedness of the piece. They may  need of a bit of historical perspective to understand the milieu in which Cora's spirit flourished. For example, note that story was published in 1934.  When Langston Hughes wrote in the late 1920s and 1930s, civil rights -- as we know it today -- didn't exist.  At that time, the prevailing notion was that blacks had no rights which whites were bound to respect.  This held true, even outside the boundaries of the segregated South.

The "N" Word

This "Jim Crow" attitude is personified by the use of the pejorative term nigger in the story. Hughes intentionally contrasts Cora's strength in character with the racism that threatens to destroy her.  He employs the disparaging term twice in the story, explaining early on: "She was.. .the least of the citizens of Melton. . .what the people referred to when they wanted to be polite, as a Negress, and when they wanted to be rude, as a nigger...." Later on, Hughes writes, "Cora was the oldest of a family of eight children -- the Jenkins Niggers." This latter description conveys the white town's perception of "The only Negroes in Melton."

Teachers should not shrink from using this story because of its dated nature or its objectionable terminology. Given the rich character development and numerous themes, the story naturally invites discussion of the historical and social context in which the events took place. This process would ultimately allow students to appreciate how Cora transcends her circumstances.

When teaching "Cora Unashamed," teachers may consider preceding (or following) a deep reading of story with a direct and open discussion of the dreaded "N" word.  As part of this unit, teachers should incorporate historical information that places the story into its proper time period.  Such a discussion of "N" word is crucial because the term remains part of our vernacular.

In my ninth grade College Prep English class, we've encountered the word many times in our reading of literature.  Additionally, our students -- mostly African American and Latino, with a sprinkling of whites, Asians and others -- have run across the term in informal conversation.  Because of its potentially explosive connotation, I've confronted its social use head-on.  Below is a recounting of how the class discussion went.

Class Dialogue on the "N" Word

First, I declared to my students that I noticed that they used the term regularly, even some of the non-blacks.  I asked them to write personal reflections in their response journals, describing their feelings about the use of the word. Then I asked them to survey parents, other relatives, friends, neighbors, anyone else in the community who cared to expound upon the subject; students were asked to note these people's reactions. We then participated in a class-wide, "grand conversation" in which people shared their opinions as well as those gathered in their surveys.

The discussion became quite heated at times as students of different racial backgrounds argued the pros and cons of the term's usage. Some students favored the stance taken by many popular rappers in their lyrics.  That's to say, the colloquial Nigga (or Niggah) is okay, hip and contemporary.  It is an affectionate appellation only to be used by blacks among themselves, as in "Nigga~ With Attitude (NWA)," a rap group from Compton, California.

Others vehemently opposed the use of the word in any context, given its racist origins.  These students also argued that the seemingly inconsistent (and inherently unfair) directive that whites were not to use the term at any time was good cause to prohibit the use of the word.

After the spirited discussion, we read a poem by Countee Cullen titled "Incident" and an essay by Earl Ofari Hutchinson deploring the use of the word.  Then we viewed a videotaped news feature by a local TV station which pitted Hutchinson against the late rapper Eazy E, whose lyrics glorified in the term's use.

At the end of this immersion, I invited students to write "After Thoughts" to reflect, finally, on how they felt about the place of the word nigger in today's language. Many became convinced that the word should not be used by anybody, in any context. Some still insisted on the right to address their "homies" as Nigga or Niggah. Others maintained that we had turned the historical, racist term on its face by making it our own.  Clearly, the most valuable outcome of the dialogue was the open, healthy and sometimes, brutally frank communication. The conversation covered not just the issue of utterance of the dreaded term, but attitudes about race, diversity, and the debunking of stereotypes and preconceived notions of any kind.

Thus, engaging students in discussion of real life issues inherent in literature pays off not only in literary or academic terms, but also behaviorally. For that reason, I recommend "Cora Unashamed" as a deeply meaningful reading for classrooms that seek to foster humane thinking and learning.

Opinions on the Use of "N————R"

By Members of College Prep English Class and Their Parents

Students were asked to write responses to the word and then to survey family, friends, relatives, and others for their opinions.  Below are examples of what was gathered:

Nigger is a negative word. It is demeaning to me...The word as made to make black people feel less than human.  Nigger is what slaves were called long ago.  I think if anyone experienced the word in the slave time, then they would not use it now...Some people use the word in a childish, playful, and funny way or as a way of saying, "What's up?" or "Hello," but I don't see it that way.  It is also used as slang such as "nigga" but I still feel strongly against being addressed as that in slang.  I used to use the "Nigger" in a slang term as "Nigga" but then one day a teacher showed us a movie about slaves and the word "Nigger" and expressed to the class what it truly meant, and I never used the word again.

    -- Venetta Davis, African American

...blacks lower themselves by calling each other niggers. They think it's cool because it's blacks calling blacks niggers, when it's not.  It's just as powerful as someone else calling you a nigger.

The white man's idea was passed down from generation to generation that a Nigger is No Good Lazy Poor trash Uneducated a Slave Will Come to Nothing Thief Have no Rights Should Stay Behind Speak when Spoken to Likes to Live on Hand Outs Is Black and Evil.

     -- Adrian Williams, Belizean  ... Father of Kifarrah Williams

I think that when a person of Anglo-Saxon origin uses that word, it is meant to degrade and humiliate... .Usually a lot of malice and hatred is injected into that one word. It shows that they have not yet grasped the concept of equality and togetherness. When I hear a person of African origin use it, I feel sad and angry. Sad that they have not yet understood that by using that word they help to tear down and humiliate .... And angry, for by their using it, they pass that ignorance and lack of respect for each other to the younger kids who see it as okay, and we have a whole race people unloving of each other and continuing to debase...each other.

     – Cornelia Smith ... Mother of Kifarara

Nigger:  After Thoughts

By Brandi Powell

My thoughts on the word nigger are basically the same as before.  I feel it's used in different ways.  One being good and the other being negative.  Now a question was raised in one of our discussions, "Will you allow a white to call you a nigger in a friendly way?"  My conclusion was that I wouldn't because white people have put my ancestors through a lot of grief and self-destruction.

Another question was raised, "Why do you allow your own race to call you a nigger?"  The way I look cit it is that when my race says, "What's up, Nigga?" it's a greeting. They're not trying to cause self-destruction or put me down.  Others say your ancestors fought so hard to get this erased from the vocabulary.  This is where I differ from before. The word has changed and evolved into a different meaning. With its similarity to the negative meaning... it's hard for others to accept the word

My thoughts on this word are constantly changing. The further I've been educated and enlightened by others, the more I change. At first I used the word and never thought that much of it...Hearing other insights made me look and search deeper into what I thought the word means. Not what my parents and friends think...I'm in the process of figuring it out.

Brandi Powell wrote this in October 1997 for Yvonne Divans-Hutchinson's College Prep English class.

The "N" Word: Its Connotations in Literature and Life

By Lois Clark and Yvonne Divans-Hutchinson

To aid you in stimulating class discussion, we've assembled the following list of questions:

Questions for Reflection:

1.  How do you handle racial slurs when they occur in the classroom? In literature or other classroom material?

2.  Should teachers address racism in literature whenever it occurs or only if members of the disparaged group are present in the classroom?

3.  How can a discussion of racial issues be handled without making a student whose race is the target feel self-conscious and embarrassed?

4.  Should we practice censorship and excise offensive passages or simply avoid teaching literature which deals with racial/racist themes?

5.  What can be done to allay parental concerns?

Bibliography

Cullen, Countee. "The Incident" The Norton Anthology of Poetry, New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1970.

Gregory, Dick with Robert Lipsyle. Nigger: An Autobiography. New York: Washington Square Press, 1964.

Haley, Alex and Malcolm X. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Ballantine Books, 1965 (p.36-37).

Taulbert, Clifton L. "Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored." The Language of Literature. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 1997.

Yvonne Divans-Hutchinson teaches at Markham Middle School in Los Angeles, California.