Free Essay on The Other Steve Harvey

“The other Steve Harvey” is an essay by the author Steven Harvey, which was originally published in the Michigan Quarterly Review. This essay is Harvey’s second work to be published on The Best American Essay series in 2018 after “The Book of Knowledge” appeared in 2013. In his essay, the Dodge City author expresses his personal experiences and beliefs about racism. While the author shares his name with someone who is not only famous but also a black television star, when asked over the phone if he is really Steve Harvey, he usually responds with a self-deprecating joke. “No, he is the rich one.” When answering this question, the first answer that comes to his mind is the other Harvey being black.

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Harvey’s article is built around President Obama’s speech about the killing of Trayvon Martin. The speech revealed to Harvey how inherently racist he was and did not admit it to himself. Harvey was particularly challenged by the president’s question to Americans: “Am I wringing as much bias out of myself as I can.” As this statement illustrates, the author wrote about unconscious bias with racism. He explains that, though his parents were never racists, they would use terms such as people of color when referring to black people in public. Despite his parents not being racists, he feels that using such terms planted seeds of racism in him. He explains further that it is the unconscious bias that made him grab his wallet, lock his doors, or feel the need to protect his family whenever he saw black men.

In his essay, Harvey agrees that America has come a long way regarding racial injustice. However, he believes that there is still a lot more to be done because most Americans, including him, still have a sense of bias and fear implanted in them. His essay addresses both black and white Americans who either fall victim to racism or are racists. Harvey narrates how he was working better on his bias against black people. According to him, racism is ambiguous as most of the whites who proclaim equal values indicate prejudices buried deep in their consciousness through behaviors and cognitions. Therefore, the victims or perpetrators of racism may have different interpretations of occasions involving racism. The essay also sought to demystify the misconception that people with biased beliefs will always remain so and are likely never to change their perception. Harvey gave his position on racism from the perspective of a white person.

Harvey did an excellent job of expressing his ideas in the essay shedding light on why he held the beliefs and bias against black people. The author used a comparative approach in his work, whereby he compares his mother to Trayvon Martin’s mother. Sabrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon, was filled with grief when she was interviewed the first time. The second time she appeared stronger. Harvey’s mother, on the other hand, was unconsciously and pervasively racist. The author confirmed this when he found a racist Valentine card. This revelation reaffirms the author’s beliefs of racism being inherently acquired. He also compares himself to the real Steve Harvey. The essay illustrated how Harvey was making an effort to eradicate his unconscious racist bias. He also wanted to show that the idea of him being racist is not accurate.

Work Cited

Harvey, Steven. "The Other Steve Harvey." Michigan Quarterly Review 56.1 (2017): 97. http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.act2080.0056.112