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Trayvon Tod Clifton's Invisible Man

1598 Words7 Pages

Black Americans have made up approximately half of the United States’s homicide victims every year since 2010, according to U.S. News, and the US population is only thirteen percent black, suggesting that people of color are disportionately involved in fatal encounters. This trend is actualized in the fictional murder of Tod Clifton in Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison and the real-life murder of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida in 2012. Both Martin and Clifton are young black men who are killed by a white man in a position of authority. Neither of the perpetrators face serious legal consequences for their actions, but the community response of both cases demonstrates the incredible influence that can be generated through a tragic event. Trayvon …show more content…

The Brotherhood claimed to stand for the advancement of black people in society and was a combination of whites and blacks of significant wealth and influence directing the major social and political actions of the city. He is introduced as an attractive competitor within the brotherhood for the main character, the invisible man. Clifton frequently fought with Ras the Exhorter, who opposed blacks and whites working together, arguing, “You my brother mahn. Brothers are the same color; how the hall you call these white men brother?” (Ellison, 370). However, Clifton accidentally angered the Brotherhood when he attacked one of their own members unknowingly and “was beating him, thought he was one of the hoodlums” (Ellison, 396). This lead to Clifton disappearing for weeks, with the Invisible Man having no idea where his peer had gone (Ellison, 421). Clifton only reappears by chance on the side of the road peddling paper Sambo Dolls, appearing completely unlike the man the invisible man used to know, “What had happened to Clifton? It was all so wrong, so unexpected. How on earth could he drop from Brotherhood to this in so short a time?” (Ellison, 434). Eventually the police arrive on the scene and the audience along with Clifton and his dolls disappear around the corner. When the invisible man found Clifton again, he was being followed by a police officer who pushed Clifton as he walked him down the street in custody. After being repeatedly jostled, Clifton turned around and punched the police officer. The police officer recovered and then turned around and shot Clifton in the chest. Clifton died nearly immediately, and the police would not allow the invisible man to go near his friend (Ellison, 437). Given the time period, social media was not a primary way to highlight the brutality that occured or suggest a call to

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