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Prejudice And Racism In Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

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Racism is an issue that has occurred throughout history and consumed the population with the idea of a social ladder. There have been many instances in history, where people of an obsessed race have fought against their obsessor. This has been a pattern happening in every time period. The issues occurring today is an implication of history repeating itself. This past week, Donald Trump was elected our president. During his campaign, he has promoted the hatred toward those who are considered the other. In the novel, Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison, he writes about the placement of minorities in society dominated by whites where people are categorized by their skin color/race.
I’m sure by now we have all heard of the tragic Michael Brown shooting …show more content…

In the novel there is a part where the Veterinarian just blows up with anger and starts calling Mr. Norton and the narrator out on behalf of their truths. The vet exclaims “But seriously, because you fail to understand what is happening to you, you cannot hear the truth of what you see...and you, looking for destiny! It’s classic! And the boy, this automaton, he was made of the very mud of the region and he sees far less than you do. Poor stumblers, neither of you can see the other. To you he is a mark on the score-card of your achievement, a thing ad not a man; a child, or even less, a black amorphous thing. And you, for all your power are not a man to him, but a god force.” (p.94) Here, much like the BLM organization, the veterinarian is trying to get people to understand that the whites do not care to see the African Americans rise. They see them as an object, not a human being. He is trying to get everyone to understand that they just want to take advantage of them by getting in their head to make them think they're special, but in reality just use them for their convenience. Yet no one seems to believe him and just think that he is a patient at an insane asylum.

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