Compare And Contrast Essay On African Americans

Zoish Bhagwagar

Amanda Ford

AP Language

2 April 2023

Diverse Voices Essay

The dictionary defines “other” as a person or thing that is distinct from one already mentioned, however, the word has a deeper meaning. Sherman Alexie, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Fredrick Douglass are three authors with personal experiences that cast them out which gives a further viewpoint of the hardships being an "other" can bring. Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of Between the World and Me, writes about his experiences as an African American in his country and the hardships he faced. Likewise, Sherman Alexie, author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, demonstrates the obstacles he encounters as the only Indian boy in a predominantly white area. Frederick Douglass,

All three authors characterize the prejudice they are met with as minorities during their times. This demonstration of brutalities and injustices experienced defines being an “other” as experiencing the affliction caused by the inherent injustices within society.

Each author describes being an “other” as feeling isolated in society due to their racial identity. Either physically or psychologically, each author described the notion of loneliness due to the segregation in their environment and how they are perceived. Coates emphasizes this isolation by contrasting the “raft of second chances” for Whites in opposition to the “twenty-three-hour days” that he and those who identify as black must endure (Coates 91). Coates portrays the image of a raft to highlight how racial distinction results in seclusion. Coates metaphorically expresses his isolation in a physical sense to describe the extremity of the solitude he faced. Like Coates, Alexie captures the

Coates identifies the partiality that he faces as an “inescapable robbery of time” which is a “defining feature of being drafted into the black race” (Coates 91). Because of his status as a black man, Coates must always devote his energies to his own safety. This additional need betrays his fundamental human right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as the inequitable system he lives under interferes with his ability to live his life freely. These inequalities stem from the experiences Douglass also faced when he expresses, “I was broken in body, soul, and spirit” to capture how he was dehumanized by the treatment he received as a slave in America (Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass 1). Slavery does not uphold the American ideals to which every individual is entitled to. Being an African American in his time, Douglass is imposed with brutalities which invalidates him as a man. The brutalities he faces are a result of how society was constructed to support whites and put down those who are different. Alexie captures this same notion by highlighting his efforts to find his place in society were pointless since he was “a loser Indian son living in a world built for winners” (Alexie 1). Alexie’s atmosphere pressures him and diminishes his freedom of expression. The society built around providing