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Ways to reduce prejudice and discrimination
Ways to reduce prejudice and discrimination
Ways to stop prejudice
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In both “The Fourth of July” and “Black Men and Public Space” the narrators did one very important thing; they expressed how the encounter made the narrator feel. This is crucial because it almost allows the reader to share the feeling of helplessness that was felt. In “The Fourth of July”, Lorde explained how she truly did not understand why the family was treated differently. She tells of her parents’ fruitless effort to shield their children from the harsh realities of Jim Crow by planning out virtually the whole trip. The highlight of the story is when the narrator expresses both anger and confusion at the fact that her family was denied seated service at an ice cream parlor because they were black. The narrator of “Black Men and Public Space” takes a similar approach of exemplifying his helplessness. This narrator explained how he understood the stigma associated with his appearance and did his best to circumvent it, but unfortunately some situations rendered him helpless. In the opening paragraph, he describes a woman’s extremely cautious actions when she became aware of his presence one the dark and desolate street. He later explains how the encounter …show more content…
When Divakaruni moved to the United States, tried to abandon the smells of her childhood in favor of acculturation. She realized this is a mistake when she has a child of her own. She eventually comes to appreciate the smells’ abilities to comfort, give joy, and motivate. One smell in particular she told about is how the smell of iodine reminded her that “love sometimes hurts while it’s doing its job.” In rearing her own offspring, she intentionally tried to replicate the “smell technique” with her own twist in hopes that her children reap similar benefits. One example is how she filled the house with the aroma of spices and sang American and Indian tunes with her
During his speech he was ignored and laughed at after working so hard and battling to be heard, but once he spoke of equality someone from the crowd became upset. “You sure that about ‘equality’ was a mistake?” (1220). Some are born with access and advantages, but some have to go through hurdles to get what they want. “I spoke automatically and with such fervor that did not realize that the men were still talking and laughing until my dry mouth, filling up with blood from the cut, almost strangled me.” (1219). This places a challenge on the white men in the area that an intelligent black boy who they thought nothing of yet still considered him voiceless and moronic. This chapter alone worked off of a single scene of how the narrator was indeed an invisible man in his youth, not knowing which way to turn, but remembering the words his grandfather said from his deathbed carrying on throughout his years. “Son, after I’m gone I want you to keep up the good fight. I never told you, but our life is a war and I have been a traitor all my born days…” (1211). Neither the culture nor the crowd wanted to accept what was given, doing anything to repress someone from attempting to reach a goal. It is a way to discourage one due to others feeling you aren’t good enough or have the will and drive. The theory applied may help readers see something that we would not see unless we
The victims of judgment, although bold on the outside, face several obstacles others are ignorant of. Dunbar, a member of the African-American community, assesses how the surrounding groups force him and his people to smile with “torn and bleeding hearts” (Dunbar 4). Artificially smiling, they, consequently, decide to ignore the truth of their hardships to feel secure. The strong adjectives associated with “hearts” emphasize the impact of these challenges on their lives. By exhibiting synthetic strength and not addressing these hurdles in life, Dunbar reveals how society refuses to accept and embrace others’ problems. Moreover, by repeating the phrase “We smile,” he shows how a simple facial movement is so powerful and allows individuals to ignore situations they deem difficult (Dunbar 10). In an environment that judges by a glimpse and often does not take the time to listen to the difficulties of others, it is not possible to open up and share. As a way to protect their dignity and maintain a sense of strength, they escape reality. Through both of these works of literature, it is clear that in an environment that compels change, the population will adapt to better fit in and reveal other sides to
The reality of the matter, only known to the mother and father, is that the status quo of racist policies prohibited the Lordes from dining in the car. Lorde appeals to the reader’s pathos by subconsciously creating empathy for Lorde as she struggles with her parents not being truthful about foundational aspect of mid 1900’s American society – racism. Moreover, the use of situational irony is shrewdly expressed in Lorde’s interpretation of her family’s D.C. trip: “…the waitress was white, and the counter was white, and the ice cream I never ate in Washington DC was white and the white heat and the white pavement and the white stone monuments of my first Washington summer made me sick to my stomach…” (para. 24). Employing vivid imagery of how Lorde perceives her recently awoken sense of actual reality, she is able to express her understanding of the displeasing disparity between superior Whites and inferior Blacks. Unlike her jaded parents, Lorde expected the United States’ capital to uphold the same virtues it was founded upon – freedom, equality, liberty. Ironically, she finds Washington D.C. to be filled with inherent discrimination. Consequently the reasoning for Lorde’s blatant irony in her essay’s title: “The Fourth of July”. July 4th is supposed to represent the day the American founders broke away from an oppressive British rule to mark the birth of a free land. Paradoxically, they created a regime that was was more oppressive than the British. The racist foundation of the new nation is not exposed until the understanding of Thomas Jefferson’s implication of the phrase “all men are created equal” in the Constitution. These “men” strictly refer to the elite men that have conquered this new land of America – property-owning white men. Thus, women and those of color were not recognized as entities that possessed inalienable rights. Founding a
Cultural diversity is the hallmark of our society because of the our inherited genetic predisposition or what we learn as we grow up that predominantly shapes us and our differences as individuals. In that same way, we must be more aware of the things others say and do because we’re all different and we all should be able to accept the fact. When it comes to the Fourth of July, every person has his or her own memory during this special occasion. Audre Lorde took a trip during the summer to Washington, D.C., she obtained her own memory and meaning of independence. Lorde’s essay was written in response to her family’s trip to Washington D.C. the summer after her graduation from eighth grade. In it, she writes, “The waitress was white, and the counter was white, and the ice cream I never ate in Washington D.C. … was white and the white heat and the white pavement and the white stone monuments of my first Washington summer made me sick to my stomach for the whole rest of that trip…”(Lorde 257). Here,
Let’s begin discussing this well written novel by Ralph Ellison in 1952 called “Invisible Man.” The narrator himself is "an invisible man” (3). “It is told in the first person and is divided into a series of major episodes, some lurid and erotic, some ironic and grotesque” (Books of the Times). This book describes the “racial divide and tells unparalleled truths about the nature of bigotry and its effects on the minds of both victims and perpetrators” (Cover). He describes his criticism and how he was viewed by others. “Paradoxically, is simultaneously too visible, by virtue of his skin color, and invisible, in that society does not recognize him as a person but only as an aggregation of stereotypes” (Strauss 1). He lived in New York City as an upstanding young black man. “Ellison 's use of invisibility as a metaphor extends beyond the issue of race” (Strauss 1). As Ellison describes, humanity of a black man is racially divided and not equal. He tells his story from the safety of an underground hole coming to the realization that the end is the beginning. Not everyone is seen as equal, not even today.
n Frederick Douglass’ What to the Slave is the 4th of July, he presents a simple yet morally complex argument. In his letter, Douglass states that it is hypocritical for a country to celebrate its freedom and separation from another country, yet still have slavery alive and well in the United States. Morally, this issue is a pretty straightforward argument and the very definition of hypocritical. Douglass also touches upon his belief that all men and women are equal, as stated in the constitution, yet slaves are subhuman. Another topic touched on is the contributing factors that perpetuate the constant and unjust nature of how slaves are treated, such as religion, agricultural, and over all demeanor towards slaves.
Stories are often left untold or forgotten. The stories that are deemed profound or are remembered are of fact or evident to the masses. The stories that make up history, such as the African Americans’ fight for equality, are made up of concrete events that were witnessed. On the contrary, stories like the narrator’s in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man are generally overlooked because they are focused on an individual’s experience. This is due to the theory that humanity is naturally self-involved, but also ashamed because the majority of our experiences consist of challenges. The narrator’s story was filled with past humiliations that were the major cornerstones to his identity. He illustrated the significance of embracing our humiliations, or
This novel is a record of a Negro's journey through contemporary America in search of success, companionship, but most importantly himself. This so called Invisible Man gives voice to the feelings of many black Americans that they were not "seen" by American society. Blacks were not integrated into the American mainstream and therefore not "seen." This, making the Invisibility of this man evident, particularly through his italicized wording, where he often questions who he is and his role in society.
This essay will be addressing the book Invisible man written by Ralph Ellison. In Invisible Man the protagonist would describe how it is to feel invisible to the world just based on your skin color. This unnamed protagonist would describe his past on how once he was an excellent student to leaving in the basement of an apartment complex restricted to only whites. As the story progresses the protagonist explains many challenges he had to go through to end up living in a hole.
Even so, his persona shines through with his point of view and recollection of past events of racial profiling he experienced. For example, he mentions that he was suffering from insomnia and, thus, would walk the streets at night, and when he faces the contempt of fellow pedestrians, he points out that he “was stalking sleep, not defenseless wayfarers” (Staples 542). With this in mind, it shows the reader that he is trying to defend himself against all the derision that society throws his way. Likewise, Staples’ persona can be seen as desperate, yet it can also be seen as angry and frustrated. As seen from his point of view, Staples indicates his helplessness and frustration in the way that he has no control over how the people of society view him; all he can do is try to act and coax people into believing he means no harm- the truth. Unfortunately, society still had a strong grip on stereotypes and judged and presumed the worst of him. In this case, by using his point of view, he gives the audience his insight of the cruel position he is in which gives him the credibility to show how racial profiling dominates in society against African Americans like himself. In the same fashion, Staples also uses anecdotes to show his difference between him and the stereotypical portrayal of an African American that society gives. One
In Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, the unnamed narrator shows us, through the use motifs such as blindness and invisibility and symbols such as women, the sambo doll, and the paint plant, how racism and sexism negatively affect the social class and individual identity of the oppressed people. Throughout the novel, the African American narrator tells us the story of his journey to find success in life which is sabotaged by the white-dominated society in which he lives in. Along his journey, we are also shown how the patriarchy oppresses all of the women in the novel.
In the essay “Shame”, by Dick Gregory, the author narrates how two painful experiences during his childhood reflected how difficult it was to grow up as a poor African American. Gregory was ashamed of being on welfare and of his poverty, so much so that he got of rid of the warm hooded mackaw he received because it was a reminder that he and his family were on relief. Gregory also expresses his embarrassment, shame, and desire to hold onto his dignity throughout it all. In the essay “I Became Her Target”, by Roger Wilkins, the author describes how it was difficult for him to break the ice with his classmates because he was a new student in school. In fact, Wilkins was the only black student in this new school which only worsened the situation. Moreover, he was the target of both
In Ralph Ellison’s novel The Invisible man, the unknown narrator states “All my life I had been looking for something and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was…I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself the question which I, and only I, could answer…my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: That I am nobody but myself. But first I had to discover that I am an invisible man!” (13). throughout the novel, the search for identity becomes a major aspect for the narrator’s journey to identify who he is in this world. The speaker considers himself to be an “invisible man” but he defines his condition of being invisible due to his race (Kelly). Identity and race becomes an integral part of the novel. The obsession with identity links the narrator with the society he lives in, where race defines the characters in the novel. Society has distinguished the characters in Ellison’s novel between the African and Caucasian and the narrator journey forces him to abandon the identity in which he thought he had to be reborn to gain a new one. Ellison’s depiction of the power struggle between African and Caucasians reveals that identity is constructed to not only by the narrator himself but also the people that attempt to influence. The modernized idea of being “white washed” is evident in the narrator and therefore establishes that identity can be reaffirmed through rebirth, renaming, or changing one’s appearance to gain a new persona despite their race. The novel becomes a biological search for the self due through the American Negroes’ experience (Lillard 833). Through this experience the unknown narrator proves that identity is a necessary part of his life but race c...
People wondered how much of it was accurate to his life. Although no one except him knows whether he ever felt these things or not, it is evident that this novel was written to prove a point. The main character represents the feelings of the majority of blacks at the time. One can only imagine how blacks felt growing up in a world that constantly de-humanized them and treated them like garbage. The Jim Crow Laws created a sort of self-hatred for the blacks. They were treated as if they were a disease that the whites did not even want to be close to. Some African Americans lived their whole lives being treated this way and that had to do something to their self esteem. By the end of the novel the unnamed narrator finally declares himself a white man. He is the father of two and the widow of one. In the last words of the novel he states, “I no longer have the same fear for myself of my secret’s being found out, for since my wife's death I have gradually dropped out of social life; but there is nothing I would not suffer to keep the brand from being placed upon them [his children]” (Johnson 153). The character feels like a coward for not embracing and standing with his race, but for the sake of his children he is willing to live with that so that his children will not have to; so that they
The narrator declares that he “did not become alive until [he] discovered [his] invisibility,” (Ellison, 7). The audience is taken back to a time when the narrator lived in ignorance, before he had accepted that invisibility was not an element of fantasy but a fact of his reality. In another moment of violence, the narrator is forced into darkness with a blindfold and the audience truly sees the hardships of exiting without awareness of the dual condition of African Americans. The narrator was invited to give a speech to the affluent white men of the town. But his speech was eclipsed by a battle royal, a violent event in which curses and slurs were hurled in his direction. Pain and suffering were forced upon him by the white patriarchs in the room and yet the boy was still concerned with the “dignity” of his speech and even after he was knocked unconscious the narrator wondered if he “would be allowed to speak,” (Ellison, 26). Even after being brutally beaten and slandered he still felt compelled to impress those who could not fully see him. He still felt as if his worth was determined by the white man’s praise. The reactions to his speech, which urges those who face oppression to “Cast down [their] buckets where [they] are, further signify the blindness of the observers. His speech is almost entirely compliant