Dreams From My Father- Part IV (pages 230-306)

Obama is trying to get the black community in south Chicago organized for most of this section. It is not easy work, because most of the black churches and such are very independent, and don't want (or are too proud) to join the organization. He says "a handful i met with confirmed to the prototypes found in Richard Wright novels or Malcolm X speeches: sanctimonious graybeards preaching pie-in-the-sky, or slick holy rollers with flashy cars and a constant eye on the collection plate" (Dreams from My Father 279). The men were not willing to coordinate with Obama and his organization because they thought they were doing fine without it, and that it might mess up everything they had going, whether it be religion or money from the offering plate. That's not to say Obama didn't like these men. He was impressed by them. He describes them "As a group, they turned out to be thoughtful, hardworking men, with a confidence, a certainty of purpose, that made them, by far the best organizers in the neighborhood (Dreams from my Father 279). He was impressed with their ability to command respect and inspire a sense of duty into things like the offering plate and other church donations. The only problem he had with them was their unwillingness to work together.
The section I read also deals more with the issues of racism. The area where Obama is working is highly segregated. He notes that "there was no denying that the church had a disproportionate number of black professionals in its ranks: engineers, doctors, accountants and cooperate managers (Dreams from my Father 285). The church he was working with didn't have many blacks in professional workers. Also, he meets Reverend Wright in this section. At first, I expected Reverend Wright to be a bad guy type figure, due to his little input into Ba rack's campaign, but it seems that at first Barack and Reverend Wright were pretty good friends. At least definitely not enemies. When speaking about Reverend Wright, Obama speaks with admiration. For example, Obama says "If men like Reverend Wright failed to take a stand, if churches like holy trininty refused to engage with eral power and risk genuine conflict, then [there would be no] chance of holding the larger community intact? (Dreams from my Father 286)

Teacher Question

I thing there are a few differences between a stool pigeon and a criminal informant. The most major turning point is the view point. It doesn't matter who or what happened. Using the movie as an example, all the mobsters viewed terry as a stool pigeon. The reverend and the girl, plus the court lawyers and police officers all viewed him as a criminal informant. It wouldn't really matter what happened, the people hurt are going to yell traitor and the people helped will yell back crusader.

Another difference is the traitor/crusader themself. You can find out by asking yourself "What's in it for them?" In the case of the movie, Terry was doing it for all the dockworkers and as an example of how one man can make a difference. This makes him a crusader, because he is being very unselfish. He's not asking for any compensation, he just knows he made a difference. The two criminal informants who talk to terry in the beginning are stool pigeons, on the other hand. They are paid, and they probably wouldn't care about the whole thing if it wasnt for their pay.

Dreams from My Father - Part III (pages 153-229)

Obama, Barack. Dreams from My Father. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press, 1995.

In this section, Barack has just begun his organizing career in southern Chicago. He is working with a white man, named Marty. Marty has a very interesting view on his job, which i think puts this whole section in a new light. Marty tells Barack during the interview that he must be angry about something, because otherwise he wouldn't want this job. I thought this was applicable to lots of situations in real life. It seems to me that a lot of times, someone you have never met can tell you something about yourself that you never knew. There are some things that people take for granted about themselves. A lot of people have almost no idea how their personality makes people categorize them. Barack didn't know he was angry about the situation until Marty told him he was, and then he realized that was true. He was angry, and he wanted to make a difference for the people. Marty warns him about the racism in Chicago, and when Barack experiences this for the first time, All Marty says is "'I did warn you,' Marty said, opening the door to his car. 'I told you Chicago's polarized and that politicians use it to their own advantage" (162). Barack learns that organizing is more than going around getting people to help you. He now knows that a lot of people are too scared to help out, too scared to take sides. This same idea occurs in many peoples lives, and I realize now it can be tied into All My Sons, as well. Joe Keller was afraid to admit his wrong, and so he made an unethical decision. A lot of people are too afraid of the consequences and they over think the ethics. They live feeble lives because of their reluctance to admit to their actions or ideas. Barack is realizing how little power he really has in the organizing business. When he first came to Chicago, he was expecting to gain monolithic support in the community and be completely sure of his actions. In reality, he realizes that not everybody wants to stand up for the right thing. Now he isn't even sure what is right or wrong anymore. He says "I realized then, standing in an empty McDonald's parking lot in the South Side of Chicago, that I was a heretic. Or worse- for even a heretic must believe in something, if nothing more than the truth of his own doubt" (163). Barack has heard so many opinions and so many conflicting views he is too confused to know what he believes anymore. This is a great example of the way society influences us. The more we see or hear somehting in society, the more "ok" it becomes in our minds, and since Barack is being constantly bombarded with opinions and ideas, he has no idea of right or wrong anymore.