TK's HAF Blog

     It's interesting how anything that has do with black people is seen as 'mumbo jumbo'. That is, until it is becomes 'validated' and everyone else imitates what black people do. Ironically, once black culture is passed around, it becomes 'outdated' and fades away. The novel Ragtime  illustrates this through the spread of Jes Grews and the rise and fall of jazz music. There many instances where things that originate from black people have been 'adapted' and been made into something 'acceptable' to mainstream society.      New York City truly is the birthplace of amazing things. From jazz in Harlem, to rap from the Bronx, New York City has been a critical influence on pop modern culture. Speaking of rap music, rap has become one of the most popular genres of music in recent times -- and it comes from black people. Rap music wasn't always as popular and celebrated as it is now. When rap first came out, it was looked at as violent and ...

       Is Coalhouse too confident? Is it wrong for a black man to have his head held high? Is it wrong to for black man to not be intimidated by a white male? The answer to this is yes; it is off-putting to see a strong black male. Coalhouse is a black man in the novel Ragtime  who was a pianist, the fiancé of Sarah, and someone who simply wanted respect.      In chapter twenty-three, after seeing his fiancé, Sarah, Coalhouse is driving on a road that he always drives on and is stopped by the volunteers. The volunteers claim Coalhouse has to pay a toll that he has never had to pay in the past. After seeking the help of a police officer, Coalhouse comes back to his car to see it have human poop all over it. Additionally, there was a hole in the back of the car. Of course, Coalhouse wanted justice for his car and was sent to jail.      Later in the novel, in chapter twenty-five, his fiancé, Sarah, dies. Sarah was trying to reach ...

    You are living on the streets inside of a cardboard box, your clothes are tattered, and you walk place to place in search of a meal. Then, one night, as you're aimlessly journeying through the city, you come across a building and you see wealthy people dressed like yourself. The concept of wealthy people dressing up as poor people and dancing to honor the low-class is interesting. The novel Ragtime does a good job in representing the fixation that rich people have for poor people and it can be seen through the poverty balls talked about in chapter six of Ragtime .     The idea of poverty balls is introduced in chapter six when a character named Freud was expressing his disapproval of American society. Poverty balls are events held at palaces where guests come dressed in rags and eat from tin plates and drink from tin mugs. Poverty balls are made to resemble to dirt farms. The interesting part about poverty balls is how they raise 'proceeds' for charity. On page 4...