Black Woman/Black Literature Christina McVay

After reading the interview, I was able to gain an insight on the views of black literature from another person’s point of view. Christina McVay a white instructor teaches black women about black oral and written language. In the beginning of the reading I was a bit hesitant towards McVay’s thoughts towards black language. I quickly prejudged and questioned whether or not a white women could effectively teach black language to black women themselves. In my opinion one who did not live the life of an African American could not truly appreciate the language or its concept. Her background in German, Russian, and English did not provide a justification for now teaching oral and written discourse of Black English. One quote I viewed as being one sided was “one of the communities that has the greatest oral dexterity is the black community. I believe that comes that ling oral tradition from Africa right through slavery and Jim Crow in thus country”. To me this statement showed her lack of knowledge of African American people and their past. African Americans had a thriving past of language even before the time of slavery or Jim Crow, but I soon realized I was only looking at things from my own perspective. In the interview McVay spoke upon how about two weeks into her class she always came upon the same questions.

“Miss McVay what are you doing over here anyway? Why are you teaching this class?” And through how response she enlightened my own thinking. She told her students that although she was clearly not black she did have knowledge on language and writing. She also recognized that learning correctly involved not only taking in information but adding your own experiences and knowledge on the subject. Having a relationship among her students where they both learned from each other is one concept that needs to translate among the rest of the world. We often shut others out because we believe they cannot relate to our own experiences not knowing what they may have to offer to the plate. 

“It’s important that they see themselves in what they’re reading”. From this quote I began to understand why many African Americans don’t read. They are unable to relate to relate to the language, experiences, and people in the stories they read. Although this class Christina McVay teaches I believe is essential to all people regardless of color. Despite the false truth in that black language is improper, she is able to show African Americans that their language is important it just should not be used in college papers. A language is a big part of a culture and being able to recognize its importance is one step to accepting oneself. From this class African Americans are able to see their language as a beauty created by their past, a stepping stool to the future, and an insight to their present. It is not something to be ashamed of because it is a big part of what sets us apart from others. One theme I gained from McVay’s is that others see beauty in our tradition and unless we accept them ourselves we will never truly progress in life.