As I was just going onver some notes I had written down previously, I began to think about the construction of the self, specifically in relation to the Afro-American community. I have always argued that the Afro-American community has failed to construct an identity for itself, always dependent upon the white patrarchial structure to provide it with the definition of itself, which is a byproduct of the state of bastardy.It has never been able to acheive that level of integrity--integralness where it as been completely whole. There must be some very significant changes made in order for this to take place.