Speaking In Tongues Zadie Smith Analysis

The United States historically has a pattern of treating minorities, or non-whites, with apathetic behavior. The Civil Rights Movement, which has roots in the 19th century and peaked in the 1960s, reversed the trend and granted African Americans with anti-discriminatory legislation. Because of this, almost every minority within the country has followed the Civil Rights Movement as a guide for achieving equal treatment. In her essay, “Speaking in Tongues”, Zadie Smith outlines the differences of those with a single voice, or the native dialect, versus people who utilize a multitude of voices. Furthermore, this relates to the Civil Rights Movement because the leaders who were “lettered” had their own voice in addition to other voices, which provided …show more content…
This is important because the organizational structure was guided by African American leaders who were often lettered, or well educated. With this in mind, Gladwell references the extremely well planned out Montgomery Bus Boycott and …show more content…
Minorities have been able to advance themselves in society due to steadily gaining access to quality education. This allows the status quo and traditional views that place whites above everyone to slowly be purged from the country. As African Americans and other minorities continue to become lettered, more voices will be echoing for equality. Zadie Smith says, “Our Shakespeare sees always both sides of a thing, he is black and white, male and female- he is everyman” (256). Being a writer, an artist, or any type of creative occupation requires visualizing the world from other points of view. This perspective allowed Shakespeare to assume the identity of multiple people, which gave him the power to relate to the “complicated backstories, messy histories, and multiple narratives” (Smith 252). This relates back to the hierarchical power structure because the highly lettered citizens of the black community were book smart and also gained the ability to understand other points of view. Being well educated embodies more than just reading books and answering questions. The leaders of the Civil Rights Movement had the brains to organize successful activist movements while also having the vision to see the world from different points of view. The black leaders realized that the world would function better as a unified community, where people of all races would be accepted and

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Speaking In Tongues Zadie Smith Analysis