Loss of Innocence Resulting From Racial and Economic Injustice
Economic injustice is something that has been around for many years. Economic injustice, or economic inequality, is the difference found in various measures of economic well-being among individuals in a group, population, or country. Injustice is the absence of justice, violation of right or of the rights of another, or unfairness, meaning that the economic situations that many people are in are unfair. Two stories that speak about economic injustice are “The Lesson”, by Toni Cade Bambara, and “The Flowers” by Alice Walker. Both stories incorporate the issue of injustice in economy within race in different ways. “The Lesson” focuses more on the actual financials of economic injustice …show more content…
The plot of this story is about a little black girl who goes walking in the forest, sharing memories of how her and her mom would take the walk together sometimes. The issue of racial inequality is shown in the story when the quotes, “She was ten, and nothing existed for her but her song, the stick clutched in her dark brown hand, and the tat-de-ta-ta-ta of accompaniment,” and “She felt light and good in the warm sun” (Walker 1149) are used. These quotes contrast between light and dark, with light being the sun and dark being her skin, to show that they can be in union with one another. However, these quotes also set the tone for the time “where a little Black girl, who for all intents and purposes, would not feel good and light due to her family's poverty, and their relative social standing in the world.” This is where stereotypes are associated with a person’s social standing. Just because the little girl is both black, and on a low social standing, she is expected to not be able to feel good or enjoy herself. Moving on, Myop, the little black girl, decides to go on her own path which leads to her loss of innocence. She comes to the realization of racial inequality of her family, herself, and people of her fellow race, which causes her to not want to follow in the same direction. After going on this wrong path, she encounters a lynched man, who is assumed to be black. This also represents the loss of innocence, because she could not believe that her world was populated by such gruesome things and no longer saw her world as pure and beautiful. The man being killed also exposes racial inequality because he was probably killed only because of the color of his skin, and not any other
Economic injustice is something that has been around for many years. Economic injustice, or economic inequality, is the difference found in various measures of economic well-being among individuals in a group, population, or country. Injustice is the absence of justice, violation of right or of the rights of another, or unfairness, meaning that the economic situations that many people are in are unfair. Two stories that speak about economic injustice are “The Lesson”, by Toni Cade Bambara, and “The Flowers” by Alice Walker. Both stories incorporate the issue of injustice in economy within race in different ways. “The Lesson” focuses more on the actual financials of economic injustice …show more content…
The plot of this story is about a little black girl who goes walking in the forest, sharing memories of how her and her mom would take the walk together sometimes. The issue of racial inequality is shown in the story when the quotes, “She was ten, and nothing existed for her but her song, the stick clutched in her dark brown hand, and the tat-de-ta-ta-ta of accompaniment,” and “She felt light and good in the warm sun” (Walker 1149) are used. These quotes contrast between light and dark, with light being the sun and dark being her skin, to show that they can be in union with one another. However, these quotes also set the tone for the time “where a little Black girl, who for all intents and purposes, would not feel good and light due to her family's poverty, and their relative social standing in the world.” This is where stereotypes are associated with a person’s social standing. Just because the little girl is both black, and on a low social standing, she is expected to not be able to feel good or enjoy herself. Moving on, Myop, the little black girl, decides to go on her own path which leads to her loss of innocence. She comes to the realization of racial inequality of her family, herself, and people of her fellow race, which causes her to not want to follow in the same direction. After going on this wrong path, she encounters a lynched man, who is assumed to be black. This also represents the loss of innocence, because she could not believe that her world was populated by such gruesome things and no longer saw her world as pure and beautiful. The man being killed also exposes racial inequality because he was probably killed only because of the color of his skin, and not any other