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Salem Witch Trials
1. The older woman in the middle of the photo is being othered by the people around and isn't accepted into the society. During trials in the 1600 hundreds, many women were allegedly accused of performing witchcraft and were punished for it. The crowd surrounding this lady is not helping her. This shows otherness because she is isolated from everybody else in the sense that she is so unlike the crowd, that nobody is standing up for her. Also this lady is is being othered because the girl in the pink dress is facing away from her. This young lady doesn't respect the women in the middle enough to make eye contact with her. Instead the young girl goes to her mom and the unbewitched crowd. 2. Despite the fact that they are in different situations both are about when they had to accept the fact they were not accepted. In the jury, Tom isn't accepted in Maycomb and nobody is helping him simply because of his skin tone. Instead people watch him without helping him or saying anything. Since Tom is black, some folks don't attend the trial.
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Poetry About Otherness
1. Langston Hughes writes from the perspective of a mother talking to her son. The mother describes to her son about how they have to never give up despite how othered they are. The son must never give up despite how easy it may be to give up. "And splinters, and boards torn up, . . . bare." The travel up is hard with nothing to cushion you. One has to retain faith and not back down when they are being othered. "And sometimes goin’ in the dark Where there ain’t been no light. So boy, don’t you turn back. Don’t you set down on the steps ‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard." If somebody were to let down there guard than its only going to be harder to put it back up. Also sometimes it can be challenging to keep going when there is no positive ending. 2. This relates to To Kill A Mockingbird because in both the author is telling the reader not to back down and to keep fighting for social equality. The mother in this poem doesn't let the son stop fighting and Atticus makes Scout understand and fight for justice.
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Taking A Stance Against Otherness
1. Jane Elliot, a race educator, made a speech in a room full of white Americans and asked them if they wanted to be treated like black Americans. Nobody said they wanted that. Jane wants white Americans to make a change for these black Americans. Jane continues with her speech and says "I felt uncomfortable shame to be part of the race causing such injustice to those who have historically been 'othered' by our race" (Huffington Post). Jane wants these Americans to be sorry for these black Americans and wants them to make a change. "If Black America could have solved this without White Americans, they already would have. It takes all of us to fight hard and meaningfully" (Huffington Post). Jane is trying to educate White America to make a change and that they have to fight for justice. 2. Just like in the Huffington Post, being othered also appears in To Kill A Mockingbird. When Atticus is the one lawyer who agrees to stand up for a black man, he is the only one is willing to make the world a more fair place for everybody.
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Othering Through Communication
1. This article from Huffington Post is about Trump referring to all African Americans by using the article the. "The 'The' becomes a code, a signal that he distances himself from an entire group" (Huffington Post). Trump is "othering" himself from this entire class of Americans. His characterization "signifies that black space and black people are separated and to be feared, His stereotyping distorts the complexity and reality of black life in America." Not only is Trump othering himself from black people, he is othering himself from Mexicans, Muslims, and women. 2. This article relates to To Kill A Mockingbird because, in the novel, Tom Robinson is othered from whites in Maycomb county. In both sources, the white people never say it directly, it is implied with the way the context in which they are talking. Another similarity is that both are being othered from groups. "They don't belong anywhere. Colored folks won't have 'em because they're half white; white folks won't have 'em 'cause they're colored, so they're just inbetweens, don't belong anywhere" (Lee 215). These mixed people are being othered for something they can't control. In the Huffington Post article, the African Americans can't control their own race.
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