Power Struggle In A Journey Southward And Battle Royal

Through Charles W. Chesnutt's "A Journey Southward" and Ralph Ellison's "Battle Royal," both authors depict a brutal power struggle that fails to unite white and black Americans. The hegemony consists of white people whose power stems from their belief in racial superiority and alignment with the norm; they use this thought process to label black people as socially inferior and subaltern. Towards the beginning of both texts, the main black protagonists appear to have an opportunity to challenge a white authority or crowd, but the hegemony coerces subaltern deference. After the white characters assert their dominance over blacks, the hegemony hide their racism by talking and joking in two different ways depending on their audience. Throughout

the texts, the white people try to undermine black peoples' intelligence with a constant reminder of their minuscule role in society. When the hegemony's corruption denies the subaltern a chance to stand up for their rights but compels black people to submit to powerful white people's wills, America creates an unjust society that favors hegemonic success and reinforces subaltern servitude with no hope for change.
In both stories, the white hegemony forces the subaltern to perform unnecessary and undesirable actions against their will because of the white people's belief in superiority. During the conflict in "A Journey Southward," Captain McBane asks Dr. Miller to head towards the colored train. Dr. Burns argues with McBane about the stupidity of the issue, but Miller reminds Burns of their helplessness: "It is the law, and we are powerless to resist it. If we made any trouble, it would merely delay your journey and imperil a life at the other end" (Chesnutt 4). Dr. Miller accepts his "powerless" state because he knows the consequences of fighting back include prison or worse and the chances of winning remain tremendously low. Although the subaltern has a higher level of education, the hegemony refuses to acknowledge that fact and reinforces Dr. Miller's inferiority based on the law. While the doctors and conductor dispute over words, white adults despicably force black teenagers to fight in "Battle Royal." The main protagonist describes his experience trying to run away from a dehumanizing environment involving an assaulted dancer: "Some were still crying and in hysteria. But as we tried to leave we were stopped and ordered to get into the ring" (Ellison 2398). The white hegemony traumatizes "crying" kids and orders them around like animals. At the expense of previously innocent lives, the hegemony constantly reinforces the subaltern's roles in serving for others' entertainment. While both main protagonists seem to have a chance to fight for their rights, no opportunity at success actually exists because the hegemony utilizes their power to keep pushing the subaltern back down. The hegemony constantly denies the subaltern's freedom, creating an illusion of choice between resistance and acceptance because the white people ultimately decide black people's fate.
To prevent the subaltern from discovering the huge amount of hate and disrespect, the hegemony either utilizes racial slurs amongst themselves or speaks in code when with black people. In Chesnutt's story, Dr. Miller asks the conductor to tell McBane to stop illegally smoking in the colored car, and the white conductor reluctantly complies: "Captain McBane [...] it's against the law for you to ride in the nigger car" (Chesnutt 6). By using "nigger" instead of colored, the racism of the conductor shows immediately and presents a conflict of interests. The hegemony's bias prevents a fair enforcement of the law and highlights the commonality of racism in powerful positions. Likewise in Ellison's story, the evident racism and inside jokes remain but spread out across a larger circle with more influential white people. The M.C. sarcastically speaks about forgetting the protagonist's speech: "We almost forgot an important part of the program. A most serious part, gentlemen" (Ellison 2402). When the M.C. insists about the "important" and "serious" speech, all the rich lawyers and doctors in the room know the actual point—to laugh at the subaltern black teenager. By forcing a kid to fight, suffer, and later speak, the hegemony satisfies their bloodthirsty desires. The hegemony tries to hide their hate by joking but only ends up furthering the divide between the two classes. While the white leaders constantly demean the value of black people with their sarcastic and nasty terms, the subaltern unknowingly moves farther down along the power structure. The hegemony twists the requests to tone down racial tensions by the subaltern into jokes and excuses to despise black people more, leading to a spread of hateful sentiment across white leaders.
While the subaltern strives for an unlikely improved quality of life, the hegemony reinforces the subaltern's roles as servants.

When Dr. Miller sits in the white car, Captain McBane assumes Miller's servitude to Dr. Burns. McBane finally asks Burns about Miller's status, and Burns passionately explains their relationship, leading to a confrontation: "The gentleman is not my servant, nor anybody's servant, but is my friend [...] What affair is it of yours?" (Chesnutt 3). Because of Dr. Burns' northern roots, his unawareness of the local laws cause his outrage and shock that people assume Dr. Miller as a "servant" instead of a "friend." As an outsider, Burns' anger stems from the normalized subordination of black people in public Southern culture. When the protagonist in "Battle Royal" receives a gift from the white hegemony, he becomes ecstatic at the idea of a free college education: "It was a scholarship to the state college for Negroes. My eyes were filled with tears" (Ellison 2404). By allowing the smartest black teenager to go to the "state college for Negroes," the white hegemony hides their true motives in sending him to a vocational school. The whites succeed by trying to conceal his intelligence and voice of opposition. With a major emphasis on black servitude, white authorities seek their ideal society where they stay in power, face no threats from the subaltern, and normalize inequality. Regardless of the subaltern's desires and merit, the hegemony judges and decides where to place black people in society all the way from seating arrangements to colleges. This approach fails the American dream because only certain people—the white hegemony—have a chance at rising to the

top.
Through a rigged system in which subaltern resistance remains useless and hegemonic prejudice prevails, American society fails to satisfy the needs of the powerless. Because the subaltern acknowledges their inevitable fate, the hegemony forces them to perform dehumanizing tasks. To hide their true feelings, the white hegemony uses racial slurs when speaking to each other but deceptively speaks with more hospitable terms to black people. The hegemony constantly cements their superiority by imposing subaltern servitude. In a system where the hegemony behaves corruptly and denies the subaltern a voice, the American system fails by refusing the ideal of fair treatment to all people regardless of money, power, and skin color