Mommy, therre’s a Nigger at the Door

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English 101
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A Responsive Essay of the Article “Mommy, there’s a Nigger at the Door”
Ronald Jackson‘s article, “Mommy, there’s a Nigger at the Door” is based on the theme of racism that many Black Americans faced in their lives. He explains on the different occasions that he has been discriminated because of his color. One of the events that always ring in his head is when he went to collect money for the paper, and a five-year-old child screamed while summoning his mother because of seeing a black person (Jackson II, 4). The author of the article was biased since he claims that racism started with the whites and that they are the ones who should come up with its solution without involving the blacks. Therefore, the article tends to overprotect and champion for the rights of Black Americans as compared to the rest of the races. Similarly, the audience of the article is limited to the Black people since it tends only to champion for their rights as opposed to the other races that are in America. Therefore, this paper shall come up with a summary of the article and discuss the cons depicted in the reading.
The article revolves around the treatment that Black Americans received from the white people. It claims that when children are born, they are thought of their parents’ many ways including discriminating people with black color. The children hold the perception as they grow up since they tend to choose specific friends to be with at home and in their different schools till they reach adulthood.

The author gives his personal background and that of his family for the past three generations. He depicts the different instances that he has faced which were discriminative because he was a black person. On the same note, he portrays the reasons why his parents had fewer white friends as compared to their black associates. Similarly, the article talks of racial episodes and anecdotes as the persona tries to recall the first and other different instances of racism that he has encountered. The persona explains to his readers of the coping strategies that he developed so as to reduce the effects of discrimination that he and his fellow blacks encountered. Lastly, the article talks about the implications as the author gives out his personal view of the consequences that arise due to racial discrimination in America.
Racial discrimination exists both among the whites and the blacks despite the author claiming it to be originating from the white Americans. In the article, the parents of the persona nurtured them since their childhood to view white people as untrustworthy and not dependable. Similarly, they advised their children against having white friends and instead develop friendship among themselves. The author says, “Over the years, in passing, I’ve heard my parents comment about distrusting or feeling suspicious of certain whites.” “I observed my parents intently trying to gather clues on what race meant to them” (Jackson II, 5). Therefore, this shows that the black parents also contributed in instilling racial discrimination traits into the minds of their children and this has contributed to its existence in the society. Similarly, it shows that the blacks championed the vice of racial discrimination as they never liked their white counterparts.
The author of the article seems to have a personal issue with the white people. Therefore, this makes the article be biased and lean on one side of the story. The problem of racism can only be debated reasonably by a neutral person who can be able to outline its origin and those making it survive for a long time. In the article, the author says. “I have never let a white person get that close to me again.” “As I write this, I find it interesting that I have connected these disrupted relationships with race” (Jackson II, 5). Therefore, this example shows that Jackson had developed a personal grudge against the white people. Henceforth, it would be unfair to the white race to depend on the article in getting information on the origin and impacts of racism.
The article is limited in its discussion on racism. It does not talk at any point the encounters that the whites have met in their lives that discriminate them because of their color despite its existence. All that the author tries is to put the blame on the whites for them to be seen as a racist group. In the implication part of the article, the author says, “I came to believe that the whites owned race hatred, and I figured that every bigoted individual I came across was just renting or had inherited his brand of evil from whites” (Jackson II, 6). The statement clearly shows that the author is limited to the groups that he blames to be fostering racism in the society. The discussion should have involved on both the contribution of the whites and blacks on this current issue. Instead, Jackson makes a conclusion that the whites owned race hatred.
In conclusion, I believe that the cons portrayed in the article makes it biased and not dependable by many researchers on the issue of racism. Therefore, I would recommend Jackson to come up with a different research that encompasses the contribution of all races towards racism and the ways to terminate it from the society.
Work Cited
Jackson II, Ronald L. “Mommy, There’s A Nigger at the Door”. Journal of Counseling and Development 77 (1999): 4-6. Print.