During the 1920s, the status and influence of America’s minority groups were evolving. Women achieved the right to vote and were becoming more active in the workforce. A culture of sexual liberation emerged through the popularity of flappers. The African-American community started to advance also. Sparked by The Great Migration, the mindset of the black community changed with the New Negro Movement and furthermore the Harlem Renaissance. Through black literature, music, and art, African-Americans gained a cutting-edge identity and influence both within and outside of their people. While both of these groups progressed in the 1920s, there was still miles and miles to go in the journey for equality. The continued social imbalance took a significant toll on black women, who took on this double-minority status in society.
Throughout Plum Bun, the plot follows the experience of Angela, a young woman who decides to pass in order to achieve her
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The black community tends to focus on the discrimination from outside groups. The systematic oppression, the hate crimes, the slander, and the vast number of atrocities towards the black community are all addressed. While the prejudice is made obvious outside of the black community, that is not necessarily the same for bias across just black people. JeffriAnne Wilder and Colleen Cain discuss how colorism is introduced to people of color through the family. The family is an “integral role in color socialization” (Wilder and Cain 578). Wilder and Cain mention “that colorism is not a part of everyday language [yet],,, Black women are subject to multiple jeopardy and domination… [and] inserting skin tone as an additional factor can further compound the situation of interlocking oppressions. (578). The concept that black women are introduced to the impact of colorism by the people that are closest to them, likely at a young age, can affect the perception of themselves throughout their