Furthermore, power, in “If He Hollers Let Him Go,” means the ability to control or oppress others. In wartime Los Angeles, although all the members of groups are capable of prejudicing and discriminating against others, only the white group can use their power to enforce oppression to make them fear. There are many texts Himes uses to describe how the white groups use power to awaken Bob to realize his fate as a black and make him become a black victim almost lynched. For instance, “Race was a handicap” (Himes 3). It means that living in a white world, blacks realize that people of color do not have the ability to control their lives and protect themselves from being discriminated and oppressed. Being a black man in wartime Los Angeles, Bob …show more content…
is “living every day scared, walled in, locked up” (Himes 4). These texts mean that the white groups have the power to keep him confronting the oppression, violence, and racism rooted in American society and culture. Also, Himes writes that “Nigger, you haven’t got a chance” (150). It means that blacks do not have any chance to succeed or transgress in the 1940s because they do not have the power to do what they want to do. In short, without having power, African Americans are oppressed by the white groups and have little chance to earn social and economic success. Technically speaking, Himes uses metaphors to reflect how the structure of racial power has tremendous impacts on Bob.
More specifically, Bob’s 1942 Buick Roadmaster is a metaphor for racial and class mobility. Given the benefits of his job in wartime Los Angeles, Bob uses this car to represent his economic status and show his superiority to the rich white folks who could not buy a new car (Himes 11). In this case, Bob wants to use this car to make a physical transgress. Then, Bob drives this car to cut off in front of some fasting-moving cars, challenge white drivers, and gives them stare for stare, hate from hate (Himes 12-3). This car, as a metaphor for his economic and physical mobility, expresses his anger for racism and hostility and his desire to move upward. Moreover, the car, as a sign of economic status, runs out of gas, meaning that Bob eventually fails to transgress and assimilate into middle-class. This metaphor implies Bob’s desire to break the structure of racial power to move upward. However, he has no chance to overcome this structural racism. Additionally, Himes uses first person narrative to tell a mysterious dream about a dog with “heavy stiff wire twisted about its neck” (1). It metaphorically foreshadows his fear of his own lynching caused by the whites’ oppression. Hence, by using metaphors, Himes firmly conveys that white power and racism are ingrained in American society; African Americans living in wartime Los Angeles are unable to get rid of
racism, oppression, and discrimination.
Charlie rents a car and immediately notices its color. “As he got closer, the first thing that Charlie noticed about the car was that it was red, a color he hated” (King 167). The Indian race is symbolized by red skin, as African Americans are known for their black skin. A whole diverse and culture-rich race is reduced to a simple color, red. It is clear that Charlie despises being reduced to a color. And it is not surprise that he
Being chauffeured around in a white person’s car and being a Negro did not mix well. When the car took a bad turn and crashed, Ethel and one other girl were pinned inside the crashed car. Ethel had hoped that someone would stop, and she prayed and prayed, but deep down she knew what had happened to Negros, who was in a white man’s car – they wouldn’t make it. When two white folks walked past and saw Ethel, they laughed and called them “Nigger bitches”. Ethel defended herself, “I’m suffering”.
In this passage from the novel Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates utilizes meaningful, vivid imagery to not only stress the chasm between two dissonant American realities, but to also bolster his clarion for the American people to abolish the slavery of institutional or personal bias against any background. For example, Coates introduces his audience to the idea that the United States is a galaxy, and that the extremes of the "black" and "white" lifestyles in this galaxy are so severe that they can only know of each other through dispatch (Coates 20-21). Although Coates's language is straightforward, it nevertheless challenges his audience to reconsider a status quo that has maintained social division in an unwitting yet ignorant fashion.
When William first got into the taxi cab, he disregarded the cabdriver, Fekadu, but then when William actually studied his features, William thought of him as being "a black man with a violent history” because of the scar of the back of his neck (55). Even though William knew nothing about this man or the truth behind the scar on his neck, William stereotyped him like another person would: an African American who lives a malicious life.
People come to being on the road for countless reasons and though there is no real certainty on the road, there are two things that are certain, the road stands in opposition to home and your race and ethnicity plays a major role on the trajectory and the way others treat you on the journey. African Americans have an especially strong connection to road narratives. This is because, from the beginning, the race’s presence in America was brought by forcing them on to the road against their will. It is for this reason that there are countless narratives, fictional and non-fictional, of black peoples on the road. For Birdie Lee, a literary character, the beginning of the road marks the end of her comfortable home life and the beginning of her racial
From beginning to end the reader is bombarded with all kinds of racism and discrimination described in horrific detail by the author. His move from Virginia to Indiana opened a door to endless threats of violence and ridicule directed towards him because of his racial background. For example, Williams encountered a form of racism known as modern racism as a student at Garfield Elementary School. He was up to win an academic achievement prize, yet had no way of actually winning the award because ?The prize did not go to Negroes. Just like in Louisville, there were things and places for whites only? (Williams, 126). This form of prejudice is known as modern racism because the prejudice surfaces in a subtle, safe and socially acceptable way that is easy to rationalize.
Racism is not only a crime against humanity, but a daily burden that weighs down many shoulders. Racism has haunted America ever since the founding of the United States, and has eerily followed us to this very day. As an intimidating looking black man living in a country composed of mostly white people, Brent Staples is a classic victim of prejudice. The typical effect of racism on an African American man such as Staples, is a growing feeling of alienation and inferiority; the typical effect of racism on a white person is fear and a feeling of superiority. While Brent Staples could be seen as a victim of prejudice because of the discrimination he suffers, he claims that the victim and the perpetrator are both harmed in the vicious cycle that is racism. Staples employs his reader to recognize the value of his thesis through his stylistic use of anecdotes, repetition and the contrast of his characterization.
Then, in the play, Wilson looks at the unpleasant expense and widespread meanings of the violent urban environment in which numerous African Americans existed th...
“…it is said that there are inevitable associations of white with light and therefore safety, and black with dark and therefore danger…’(hooks 49). This is a quote from an article called ‘Representing Whiteness in the Black Imagination’ written by bell hooks an outstanding black female author. Racism has been a big issue ever since slavery and this paper will examine this article in particular to argue that whiteness has become a symbol of terror of the black imagination. To begin this essay I will summarize the article ‘Representing Whiteness in the Black Imagination’ and discuss the main argument of the article. Furthermore we will also look at how bell hooks uses intersectionality in her work. Intersectionality is looking at one topic and
Because Blacks are stereotyped to be "uncivilized", whites have the "private fears to be projected onto the Negro." (96) Fear only promotes further racism, and the labyrinth of attitudes. He states that the problem with racial oppression will never be resolved unless the white man gives up his power.
Namely, he gets his message across to his audience with the use of imagery. Even so, he says that when he’s out walking the streets of Brooklyn at night, he finds that women “set their faces on neutral”, place their purses “across their chest bandolier style”, and “forge ahead as though bracing themselves from being talked” (Staples 543). With this use of imagery, Staples is able to place an image in the reader’s head of a young women walking the streets- alone, tense, and skittish- all because of man who, unbeknownst, means no harm to her. This denotes the theme of racial profiling in society because it shows the woman’s fear of an African American walking the streets, whom of which has not made one advance or threatening move towards the woman. The woman’s ability to assume the worst in the blink of an eye shows how society has been drilled with the influence of stereotypes and racial profiling. This leads to the fact that an innocent man is being ridiculed for the color of his skin while he had done nothing to cause such actions. Moreover, the description of the woman’s reaction to Staples makes the audience pity him because of his innocence in the cruel and unfair situation and unwillingness to be anybody other than an innocent bystander. Additionally, Staples’ use
Paul Tillich’s analysis of “the courage to be” further clarifies the meaning of Black Power. He says that “the courage to be” “is the ethical act in which man affirms his being in spite of those elements of his existence which conflict with his essential self-affirmation” Black Power is then a humanizing force because it the black man’s attempt to be recognized as a “thou” in spite of the “other,” the white power which dehumanizes him. The courage they feel gives them the...
I was late for school, and my father had to walk me in to class so that my teacher would know the reason for my tardiness. My dad opened the door to my classroom, and there was a hush of silence. Everyone's eyes were fixed on my father and me. He told the teacher why I was late, gave me a kiss goodbye and left for work. As I sat down at my seat, all of my so-called friends called me names and teased me. The students teased me not because I was late, but because my father was black. They were too young to understand. All of this time, they thought that I was white, because I had fare skin like them, therefore I had to be white. Growing up having a white mother and a black father was tough. To some people, being black and white is a contradiction in itself. People thought that I had to be one or the other, but not both. I thought that I was fine the way I was. But like myself, Shelby Steele was stuck in between two opposite forces of his double bind. He was black and middle class, both having significant roles in his life. "Race, he insisted, blurred class distinctions among blacks. If you were black, you were just black and that was that" (Steele 211).
Racism is everywhere; it is all around us and at most times it resides within us. Racism basically refers to the characterization of people (ethnicity based) with certain distinct traits. It is a tool with which people use to distinguish themselves between each other, where some use it to purposely inflict verbal, physical or mental attacks on others while some use it to simply distinguish or differentiate from one another. It all depends on the context in which it is used. The play Fences by August Wilson, takes place during the late 1950’s through to 1965, a period of time when the fights against segregation are barely blossoming results. The main protagonist, Troy Maxson is an African American who works in the sanitation department; he is also a responsible man whose thwarted dreams make him prone to believing in self-created illusions. Wilson's most apparent intention in the play ‘Fences’, is to show how racial segregation creates social and economic gaps between African Americans and whites. Racism play a very influential role in Troy’s but more importantly it has been the force behind his actions that has seen him make biased and judgmental decisions for himself and his family. Lessons from the play intend to shed light on how racism can affect the mental and physical lives of Troy Maxson and his family.
The novel is loaded with a plethora of imageries of a hostile white world. Wright shows how white racism affects the behavior, feelings, and thoughts of Bigger.