The Theme Of Oppression In Jason Reynolds's Stamped

Oppression has been around for centuries. While first it was present with people physically talking to one another, it quickly appeared in more and more literature. Jason Reynolds is one of many authors to display and explain the apparent patterns in a narrative. In his book Stamped, he talks about the first ever Racist. Later on, he explains the Three-Fifths Compromise. Finally, he gives an explanation of the Greensboro Sit-ins. In Jason Reynolds novel Stamped a significant theme shown throughout is oppression. In Reynolds Stamped, he states, “Well, Zurara was the first person to write about and defend Black human ownership…” (Reynolds 7). The book was named The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea which was the first piece of writing that supported racism. Ever since the fact, people used this narrative and proclaimed it in their own twisted ways. This aligns with the theme of oppression by further explaining how people with such an opinion can spread it everywhere. The ideas soon reached other countries and civilizations which developed more problems. One is the Three-Fifths Compromise.

Because of these conflicts, the Three-Fifths Compromise was published. Reynolds states, “Every five slaves equaled three humans” (Reynolds 60). This “compromise”, while titled one, was to only benefit anyone but the slaves. Slaves were not considered people but rather as something that just existed, property. But the oppression that was thriving at this time was not even close to being over with. While then it was affecting slaves, Black people were still being discriminated against nearly two centuries later. It was time to make a