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Examples Of Institutional Racism In Fences By August Wilson

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Institutional racism has been a problem in our society since this nation was first created, from slavery all the way to our current day. In the book, Fences by August Wilson, gives a story about an African-American man named troy trying to live his life, but hold is back due to the color of his skin. This book represents institutional racism very well and it also relates to our society in the past and how it connects to in our modern day society as a whole and it compares the two timelines. It’s not only the African-American community, but many other ethnic groups are involved in this situation.
There are many ways to identify institutional racism. One example is in court, when you are promised a fair trial, in a sense that the judge and jury …show more content…

Ever since the American revolutionary war, many African-Americans fought in somebody else's war. As time moved on, it wasn’t just African-American it was Hispanics, Asians and other ethnic groups who weren’t white. In the book, Troy talks about his brother Gabriel fighting in World War 2, he says, “Man go over there and fight the war . . . messin’ around with them Japs, get half his head blown off . . . and they give him a lousy three thousand dollars. And I had to swoop down on that.”(Pg 28) August Wilson representation of society was relatable. Many people who have fought in the military struggle to obtain sustainable lifestyle after they retire or quit. Troy knew his brother wasn’t treated fairly in the military. Under wage pay and after fighting and winning the war, he was only paid three thousand dollars. Troy having said that, white Americans who fought in World War 2 had a higher wage more than anyone, which was unfair to many people brave people fought on the same side and didn’t manage to get any sort of recognition. August Wilson really set the idea on how institutional racism worked in the 1950’s and how we can compare society during the time, up to now and how it evolved and developed throughout the years to what it is …show more content…

This can be a form of Institutional racism, the two groups were most of the time separated from each other and one group felt that they were more dominant than the other. In the 1950’s it represented African-American leaders such as Martin Luther King, which he inspired many people of color to spread love and equality throughout the nation without the spread of violence. Many civil rights activists gathered to end segregation in America and to have a better life without having to the need to be more dominant than the other. Fences talks about African American leaders getting struck down and also sports players never having the chance to succeed. Martin Luther King wasn’t really mentioned in the book, but maybe represent the African-Americans characters in book, having to feel more joy knowing they had leader that can represent them or look up to when they’re

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