Underground Railroad: Escaping the Ugly Truth When learning about slavery, lessons often gloss over the ugly truth and explicit facts to spare feelings, as the frank realities trouble all who encounter it; however, what they tell us is only part of the truth. Is it because we cannot swallow it, or that they hope to sweep the history under the rug? While many band aids cover the cracks and damage done by slavery, it can not make the scars disappear, as the pain lives on everyday in the ancestors of the slaves in America. In his Pulitzer Prize winning novel Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead exposes the unique atrocities of slavery in each state, while transforming the figurative ‘railroad’ to an actual vessel to illustrate the realities
…show more content…
After discovering the birth control practices forced on the Black Americans through injections of syphilis or surgical procedures, or witnessing the Friday Festivals in North Carolina, where they publicly execute a runaway slave in the town circle, Cora’s eyes have been opened to the different possibilities for a Black Person in the United States. While feeling ‘safe’ at a progressive farm in Indiana, Lander, a black activist, laments during one of his speeches that “America too, is a delusion, the grandest one of all. The white race believes-believes with all its heart- that is their right to take land. To kill Indians. Make War. Enslave their brothers. This nation shouldn’t exist, if there is any justice in the world. For its foundations are murder, theft, and cruelty. Yet here we are” (285). The paradox of the reality from the American Dream creates the juxtaposition that America values justice, liberty, and freedom, unless you are a minority. The white society fears black power with all their might, and the fear drives them to dictate total discrimination of any race that isn’t a shade of white. With these brash statements from Lander, a strong black man, Whitehead can voice his views on the reality of being a black person in America. The values and morals that the Americans preach only masks the reality of the treatment inside. Although Whitehead’s novel …show more content…
Although emancipation eventually came, the treatment of African Americans in the United States remained barbaric and discriminatory. In his coveted novel Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead creates a unique story that resonates with many themes and issues today. Just because we don’t know about the problems and the injustice, does not mean that it doesn’t exist. Many problems with race remain unresolved, because discussions about the systematic oppression of minorities in this country never occurs. Have the states really progressed fully? Or is it a delusion that the white people want us to believe. Whitehead contributes to society by creating a story so captivating and eye-opening that it creates a conversation and platform for real change. His black life matters because he exposed the barbarity when it
After discovering the birth control practices forced on the Black Americans through injections of syphilis or surgical procedures, or witnessing the Friday Festivals in North Carolina, where they publicly execute a runaway slave in the town circle, Cora’s eyes have been opened to the different possibilities for a Black Person in the United States. While feeling ‘safe’ at a progressive farm in Indiana, Lander, a black activist, laments during one of his speeches that “America too, is a delusion, the grandest one of all. The white race believes-believes with all its heart- that is their right to take land. To kill Indians. Make War. Enslave their brothers. This nation shouldn’t exist, if there is any justice in the world. For its foundations are murder, theft, and cruelty. Yet here we are” (285). The paradox of the reality from the American Dream creates the juxtaposition that America values justice, liberty, and freedom, unless you are a minority. The white society fears black power with all their might, and the fear drives them to dictate total discrimination of any race that isn’t a shade of white. With these brash statements from Lander, a strong black man, Whitehead can voice his views on the reality of being a black person in America. The values and morals that the Americans preach only masks the reality of the treatment inside. Although Whitehead’s novel …show more content…
Although emancipation eventually came, the treatment of African Americans in the United States remained barbaric and discriminatory. In his coveted novel Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead creates a unique story that resonates with many themes and issues today. Just because we don’t know about the problems and the injustice, does not mean that it doesn’t exist. Many problems with race remain unresolved, because discussions about the systematic oppression of minorities in this country never occurs. Have the states really progressed fully? Or is it a delusion that the white people want us to believe. Whitehead contributes to society by creating a story so captivating and eye-opening that it creates a conversation and platform for real change. His black life matters because he exposed the barbarity when it