Colorism In Jonah's Gourd Vine, By Zora Neale Hurston

To Kill A Mockingbird: Inequality According to Merriam-Webster, inequality is defined as “the quality of being unequal or uneven”. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird inequality is brought up in many places. In particular, the African-American population faces racial biases. Furthermore, in the book Tom Robinson, a respected humble African-American is accused of raping Mayella Ewell an unhappy, and lonely white girl.

If it weren't for these prejudice thoughts, many people would be together united as one fighting to better one another. As Brent states in “Black Men and Public Space,” “the hatred he feels for blacks makes itself known to him through a variety of avenues - one being his discomfort with that ‘special brand of paranoid touchiness’ to which he says blacks are prone.” (514). Due to this fear of one another, it has brought much tension among many. This discrimination has been going on for many years and is what makes the United States divided.

Over the course of the American history, black people were oppressed and treated unfairly. A few ways that society treated black people is by segregating them from white people, beating them up, and taking advantage of them. As a consequence, African Americans grew up in an environment were limited in their abilities, had hatred towards the white, and had a constant judgment from white people. These factors contributed towards the way society viewed African Americans, flawed, uneducated, and poor. Yet, a notable person who overcame these obstacles and made the most out of his experiences was Malcolm X. He made a dramatic change not only in American history but in African American rights.

These laws oppressed black people and restricted their freedom. Because of the poor treating of African Americans and the Black Codes, The Reconstruction period was a failure. Some people were very unhappy when slavery was abolished. Southerners were frustrated that their property would be taken from them and turned into citizens.

Many people in the South believed that African Americans were not as good as white people. They believed that African Americans lied and were not to be trusted. Atticus states in To Kill a Mockingbird, “you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption--the evil assumption--that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women.” (Lee, 208) People thinking negative about African Americans like that could have easily affected the way Lee thought of African Americans.

The bright colors and the deformed cartoonlike style in combination with the obvious history of racial mixing suggests the ugly past that is tied to biracial people who are both black and white. The painful and ugly history of rape and the mixing of blacks and whites within slavery is not only expressed through the figures but also through the use of bright colors that clash with each other and also through the cartoonlike distortion of the figures. The ‘ugly” style is meant to express the ugly and difficult history of biracial people. The style and color choice also addressed the subject of “passing” as another lighter race and the tendency of biracial people to choose their lighter skinned heritage over their black heritage. Robert Colescott was known for transgressively playing with themes of race and sex, he was very politically aware.

The racial ignorance seen in To Kill A Mockingbird is similar to the racial ignorance seen today. African Americans are still discriminated against by citizens who are indoctrinated with racist ideals. The racial ignorance in society inspires many African Americans to make the important decision to protest unfair treatment. In brief, the racial ignorance ingrained in society highly influences important decisions made by

While succeeding in education Wright became obsessed with bringing down Jim Crow laws. In “Blueprint for Negro Writing” Wright condemns Negro writers. Wright feels that these writers are pandering to whites, instead of building to a life that’s worth living for all Black Americans. Wright has 10 points talking about Negro writing, Wright discusses the reason and cause for it, why and how it was created, expressing the importance of writing, and how writers look at writing. The first point discussed the role of Negro

The author, David Smith, discusses the topic of racial issues from the 19th century. During this time period, even abolitionists treated black people as lesser people than themselves. Smith describes how this book displays the discrimination of black people, and how even when slaves gain freedom, society does not allow them to feel entirely “free.” He also defines the term race as a term one uses to undermine a different group of people. In the 1800s, many saw black people as inadequate and simpleminded, Twain introduces Jim as a sympathetic and caring man.

The environment they live in is hostile and unfair towards them because of their race, Cheryl is beaten and disrespected and tom is executed for doing something he didn 't do but is declared guilty because he is black. Both Cheryl and Tom are betrayed by people they trusted or were nice to, Cheryl is betrayed by her boyfriend who left Cheryl because he was ashamed of her, and Tom is accused of raping Ewell whom he was nice to, They also have kind personalities, Cheryl brings in strays to feed and tom helps Mayella, both of them doing this out of pure altruism. Although racism is not easily solved it is important that we lookout for these things and put to stop to it so that we can create a safer and accepting environment for

Nativist sentiment pushed many to violate the rights of blacks. The defeat of the confederates in the South was not only devastating to the landscape and people, but also to the morals of the people. Carpetbaggers and scalawags served as “living reminders of military defeat” ("America 's Reconstruction: People and Politics After the Civil War"). This inspired “racial prejudice as well as more measured criticisms of Reconstruction policies,” as well as the Southern states “depriv[ing] blacks of their rights to vote” in violent ways ("America 's Reconstruction: People and Politics After the Civil War"). The ideals of Social Darwinism also gave white men another possible justification for their treatment, providing a reason for them to believe that blacks were poor and desolate because they didn’t work hard enough.

Earl was a passionate Baptist Minister, and Leader in the UNIA. Their participation in the UNIA forced the family relocation to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1926, and less than two years later to Lansing, Michigan. Earl’s UNIA leadership position and passionate preaching about racism incited the White racists groups, Ku Klux Klan set their house on fire to the ground and Klan-like Black Legionaries murdered him in 1931. At six-years old, Malcolm’s father nearly beheaded body was found under a streetcar.

Therefore, slavery did have some different effects towards women and men, but always towards a worse condition. All that being said, both narratives provided great comparisons between gender-specific experiences of slavery. Both women and men suffered terribly from the hands of slavery, yet sometimes in different ways. While men and women suffered the consequences of losing their humanity and being physically abused, women also faced sexual abuses, and men were in quest of the manliness that they lost at birth. After all, even though men and women

In conclusion, the novel was filled with many nuggets of knowledge and insight. Coates used his writing to bring awareness on issues that go

Atticus was perceived as a nigger- lover because of being involved with Tom, but because of this the colored people of Maycomb recognized Atticus as a man of character. The