In this article, the author tells about growing as a person of color in the middle of the 20th century. He addresses the way things changed in terms of attitude towards people of color over the course of the whole text, yet it becomes apparent in the end that there are still issues present in society. His experiences affect how he approaches this topic, especially in terms of purpose. The author seems to be trying to express his inner disagreement and unwillingness to accept the way the relationships in social work. He accumulated many negative emotions regarding this topic during his life. He starts by mentioning events from his childhood where he faced the problems that he and his parents faced, and later describes the issues that he confronted growing. Therefore, the pain that he accumulated over the course of many years of his life is represented in this text. It seems like he was willing to get rid of that pain, leaving it on that paper, and the reader can feel that pain easily when trying to have empathy for the author.
Another purpose of him telling about his experiences and later stating that he does not want to be associated only with his skin color might be that he wants changes in other people of color. Maybe, he is trying to convince others of the same idea that he adopts – the injustice of being perceived by others mainly by the category that a person belongs to. He addresses the issues that are still present and wants people to do something about them, and the author addresses his feelings and thoughts much more than logical reasoning, which is not a negative aspect of it. He calls for empathy, and he gets it. (Gates 56)
Works Cited
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. “Growing Up Colored.” American Heritage, vol. 62, no. 2, summer 2012, pp. 56+. Gale College Collection, Web.