#iola leroy

[refulgently-transcendental]

I knew all those 19th Century Novels would come in handy again someday!!

[petervintonjr]

Let us not forget abolitionist writer and author Frances E. W. Harper, the very first Black woman to be published in the U.S. Find out more about her extraordinary journey at: https://www.petervintonjr.com/blm/lesson41.html

Random decks of twelve of these trading cards are available for the asking --as many decks as you need, to share with your classroom, congregation, or workgroup. No cost, no strings attached. Email the artist for details.

[refulgently-transcendental]

i have to teach this book in class next tuesday, think i can finish it today?

[loosefittingbedsheet]

iola leroy, or shadows uplifted, by frances e. w. harper (1892)

[cryingaboutit]

Dr. Gresham be like: sjws stole my gf :(

[nicduron]

Miss Leroy, out of the race must come its own thinkers and writers. Authors belonging to the white race have written good books, for which I am deeply grateful, but it seems to be almost impossible for a white man to put himself completely in our place. No man can feel the iron which enters another man’s soul.

Francis Ellen Watkins Harper, Iola Leroy

[americanrenaissance422]

Iola Leroy

Iola Leroy focuses a lot on roles of women and differences in race. Iola is refined but she is also strong, determined, career-oriented and active in the advancement of her people (mixed-race). Iola not just the convention of the tragic mulatto, but the concept of the black “not woman” and the ideal of the white “true woman.” She negates the “tragedy” of being black and being a woman in a white, male-dominated society. Also, Harper shows the different dialects in which people of different races, and different mixes of races, would talk. 

The story focuses on Iola, a refined mulatto woman, who believed she was white for a long time until her and her mother were sold into slavery. With struggles caused by being a mulatto came the decision of whether the person would try to “pass” (as white) or not. On page 97 Iola is confused to why people don’t like slavery, saying, “Slavery can’t be wrong for my father is a slave-holder, and my mother is as good to our servants as she can be. My father often tells her that she spoils them, and lets them run over her.” Someone from school responds that they are not free though, saying, “Would you be satisfied to have the most beautiful home, the costliest jewels, or the most elegant wardrobe if you were a slave?” Because of the way her house was, she was blinded from the true issues and mistreatment of blacks that slavery brought. Iola is the exact definition of a tragic mullato. She is only 1/8 white, but because others knew and she didn’t, it causes problems for her. 

Harper combines the issues of race confusion with feminist issues that were an essential part of her political and social activities. Society’s views of what women were supposed to do were imbedded in the story. On page 205 Iola says, “Uncle Robert, I have a theory that every woman ought to know how to earn her own living. A great amount of sin and misery springs from the weakness and inefficiency of women.” In my Women Writer’s class, we just discussed about the different views of women around this time. There were the “business deal” marriages, and man owning the women type of marriages. Iola shows a feminist view saying that women should do things for themselves. Maybe marriages would last longer and be happier if men and women could accept that they were capable of working too. This was a way for Harper to voice her women’s rights beliefs. 

The novel has several elements which point to how blacks during this period started the slow, emotionally-charged process of progression, both individually and as an entire race. Harper was one of the first African American woman writers. Iola Leroy was widely read because it addressed pressing social and political issues affecting the Black American community; such as, lynching, race consciousness, suffrage, and women’s rights.

She does more than just talk about the wrongs of slavery, she deals with America in general, during the late 19th century. Issues range from gender, to internalized racism among the “tragic mulatto”, the hypocrisy of religion, and many others. The most undeniable value of the book, is the call that the author makes for literacy, temperance, and the uplifting of the race. She expresses how important she thinks Women’s Rights is. This book also helped to later spark the African American Women's Movement, which Harper helped to lead.

-Elizabeth Wagner

[americanren]

Iola Leroy

Iola Leroy by Frances Harper is a book that deals heavily with racial perception and how other people can influence how you see yourself. The story is about a young girl who is born free and raised as a white girl in Mississippi, but is discovered to actually be of mixed race and is kidnapped and sold into slavery. Throughout the book, Iola Leroy must struggle with her own self-identity, as well as struggle against those who try to take advantage of her (sometimes sexually) due to her “racial status” as a mulatto. Much of the interpersonal conflict in Iola Leroy is typical of the “tragic mulatto” genre of American literature, where the protagonist is discovered to be of mixed race and is no longer accepted into “polite” white society.

As this book shows, race cannot actually be as simple as “black and white.” Race is about perception- how others see you, and also how you choose to see yourself, affects who you are. During the mid-1800’s in American history, a person could appear white but have some black heritage. If they could pass for being a white person, they could hide the secret of their heritage and still live in white society. They lived with their secret. However, he or she might choose to identify as black or suffer the stigma of being found out to be partially black. Interracial relationships (referred to as “miscegenation”) were scandalous but common, and the children of these relationships, “mulattos,” truly understood how complicated the concept of race in America was. Mulattos found themselves on the border, stuck between two worlds yet unable to truly belong to either.

In the book, Iola and Dr. Latimer choose to pass as black. Though they are faced with persecution and hardship, they believe in working for the rights of blacks rather than passing as white, where they could enjoy privilege and avoid discrimination. They choose to face the world as they are and not have to lie about their heritage. Iola Leroy is a book that inspires people not to hide who they are, even in the face of hardship. This relates to the Transcendentalists and the abolitionists who put their privilege at risk by speaking out against oppression. They don’t hide who they are… because they shouldn’t have to. America seems to have undergone major changes only due to the courage of such people.

            Iola Leroy, much like Uncle Tom’s Cabin, also has a Christian element. While many hypocritically used Christianity to justify slavery and other forms of oppression, blacks and abolitionists found hope through Christianity that salvation would be found. It also helped to unify the oppressed. Uncle Tom’s Cabin served as a stepping-stone to lead the country out of slavery. Iola Leroy showed that work still needed to be done and that civil rights could only come out of a society where race was no longer an issue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chF5Jl_EZQk

http://www.traileraddict.com/clip/x-men-2/because-we-shouldnt-have-to