What s A Name By Henry Louis Gates - 944 Words

At birth everyone is given a name by their parents. Your name is part of your identity and how you are addressed and recognized by the world. The different verities among the population created other names given to different races. These names are offensive, demeaning and are only used to refer to a person in a disrespectful manner. They can also cause a segregation among a nations people, these names are forced upon people weather they are rich or poor, old or young, male or female and are used to describe the same race of people. In the class reading What s in a Name? â€Å"by Henry Louis Gates he reminisces about a personal experience of his that he had with his father. In the story he describes his father was a hard worker and, because of this he was in high financial standings and, he was well respected and given privileges that at the time was rare for people of his race but he was still black and his name, his individual identity was not important instead he was given a racia l identity, this is the only thing he was known as, this type of negative recognition is something many black Americans can relate to. One’s race is a predominant part of our identity and is what causes discrimination. Racal separation has been a major problem in society for generations, in his story Gates writes â€Å"all of the white people in Piedmont, West Virginia, treated my parents with an odd mixture of resentment and respect that even we understood at the time had something directly to do with aShow MoreRelatedDiscrimination in Henry Louis Gates Jr. ´s What ´s in a Name? and ADHD867 Words   |  4 PagesHenry Louis Gates, Jr.’s â€Å"What’s in a Name?† was an extremely emotional piece of literature. He wrote it to show people how hurt he was about his father, who was a well-respected man around his town, being called â€Å"George†. â€Å"George† was an infamous name that white people called all black people when they were discriminating against them. Gates hated that his father was put to a lower standard than he truly was by being called â€Å"George†. Like Gates, I hate discrimination. When I was younger, I wasRead MoreAnalysis of Henry Louis Gates Jrs Whats in a Name?1132 Words   |  5 PagesWhats in a Name? Henry Louis Gates, Jr. What really is in a name? Apparently, there is a lot. In Henry Louis Gates, Jr.s story, Whats in a Name, there is a telling story about a young boy learning the powerful pain and humiliation in the racist practices of American society. Gates illustrates how racism can perpetuate prejudice that aims to take away individual identity and put entire groups of people down. Yet, the fact that Skip was willing to never look Mr. Wilson in the yes again showsRead MoreHenry Louis Gates Jr.1976 Words   |  8 PagesRustick English 3080 7 February 2016 Henry Louis Gates Jr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Director of the Hutchins Center for African American Research at Harvard University, and an esteemed Alphonse Fletcher University Professor. 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