Blog 1

The University Avenue Project/ Othering 

Wing Young Huie 

I chose this photo: http://photos.wingyounghuie.com/p929219206/e6c95d2b3, from the University Avenue Project (2007-2010). It was taken in the St Paul neighborhoods of Minneapolis, MN by artist Wing Young Huie. 
The image shows a young African-American man sitting in what appears to be some kind of academic room or office (there are Act/Sat and other academic flyers hanging on the wall in the background). He is wearing a hat and a jacket and holding a chalkboard that reads, "When people see me, they think, he's just another black kid up to no good. But I work and go to school everyday. I want to become a artist."

(Artist Wing Young Huie) http://publicradio1.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/state-of-the-arts/files/2013/06/WING.jpg

When we look at this image, we can see that what he's wearing and the way he carries himself, may make him appear like a "kid up to no good," according to common stereotypes and prejudices. Through this image the artist is trying to show us that we see at first glance isn't the full story. He is also trying to provoke the reader to question racial stereotypes and prejudices, and to not take people at face value. As we can see from this image people can't be judged by a single stereotype and it's our responsibility to see past these ideas and to acknowledge people for who they really are and not what they appear to be.  

Othering

Othering: "any action by which an individual or group becomes mentally classified in somebody’s mind as “not one of us”. Rather than always remembering that every person is a complex bundle of emotions, ideas, motivations, reflexes, priorities, and many other subtle aspects, it’s sometimes easier to dismiss them as being in some way less human, and less worthy of respect and dignity, than we are" (Othering 101).  

Both author Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale) and artist Wing Young Huie (The University Avenue Project), examine the idea of othering in their works. In Huie's work we can see this idea expressed through the image linked above. A portion of the text in the image reads: "just another black kid", this generalization is the product of othering. By viewing the boy as "just another", we are labeling him as something/ someone else. We are also forgetting his personality and all the things that make him a "complex bundle of emotions, ideas, motivations, reflexes, priorities, and many other subtle aspects" (Othering 101). Huie's work is seeking to challenge othering and make the viewer of his work more aware of it. This is done by the breaking of racial stereotypes in most of his works.  

In The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, we see othering more through the objectification of the characters in the novel. In the novel, the characters are categorized by their role in society and the individuals are seen by the sum of all of their kind, rather than as a unique individual. Unlike Huie, Atwood can't express the idea of othering through stereotypes because the society in which the novel takes place is so different that there aren't stereotypes pertaining to the groups being represented. 

Works Cited 

Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale. New York: Anchor, 1986. Print.

Huie, Wing Young. "(k)now: A Blog by Wing Young Huie." (k)now: A Blog by Wing Young Huie.               
            N.p., 2012. Web. 07 Sept. 2014. <http://know.wingyounghuie.com/>.

Huie, Wing Young. "University Avenue Project (2007 - 2010)." Wing Young Huie. N.p., 2007-2010.             
            Web. 07 Sept. 2014.

"Othering 101: What Is "Othering"?" There Are No Others. Wordpress.com, n.d. Web. 07 Sept. 2014.  
            
           <http://therearenoothers.wordpress.com/2011/12/28/othering-101-what-is-othering/>.