James and Gandhi - 04/26

Reading through James' memoir-like passages was interesting. It was personal and relatable. This way of telling his story made the ideas easier to grasp. With that in mind, the way James described hegemony through cultural literacy was interesting. He mentions how English authors and books were primarily circulated in these schools headed by Englishmen. The same thing can be said about the American school system. Throughout high school, the books we were told to read were by American or English authors. By installing popular Western ideas through education, it becomes very common sensical to think these ideas are legitimate. Criticizing these ideas become difficult because of how deeply rooted they are in our identities. Therefore, according to Gandhi, we must free ourselves first before we can free our country. America isn't enslaving through force, but through ideologies instilled in us through "popular culture". It is through a resistive culture that we can question the legitimacy of these claims.