Effects of Racial Oppression

Authors

Joana Reyes, Nebraska College Preparatory Academy

Date of this Version

2019

Document Type

Article

Citation

Senior Capstone Project Poster, Nebraska College Preparatory Academy/Grand Island Senior High School 2019. University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Comments

Copyright © 2019 Joana Reyes

Abstract

During influential African-American movements, such as the Harlem Renaissance and Civil Rights, texts were created to illustrate oppression and one’s search for identity within that oppression. This is most notably presented in works such as Invisible Man and A Raisin in the Sun; they accurately depict racial and social-economical differences and the struggle of the characters to find both their place and society as well as their confidence as defined by their race. Through both literary works, each was able to describe and show how these individuals faced oppression. Therefore these two individuals were able to break away from the expectations that are tied to their race, and both were able to define themselves with or without relation to their ethnic group, which thus created a further movement to find oneself in this era of African-American liberty.

• Both literary works were published during the 1950s when the Civil Rights movement was at its highest point, and both were inspired from the 1920s. • Both the narrator of Invisible Man and the family within A Raisin in the Sun experience racial oppression. The effects of the oppression was present, easily finding insecurity with self and issues with identity. • This then clashed with the necessary means of combating against it: breaking the societal norms. • Other analysts of these works argued that Ralph Ellison created a emotionally heavy piece of literature, whilst others claimed that Lorraine Hansberry’s play presented both a universal and racial connection.