Race, Inequality And Privilege In The Invisible Man By Ralph Ellison

“We continue to be confronted with a problem as old as America itself. That problem is the problem of the color line. It is the problem of racism, of inequality and privilege, of the suffering and oppression of some groups of people at the hands of another (2).” When I think of race or talk about race, I think of racism, and oppression. I think this quote is a powerful one because it looks at the problem of color line, inequality and privilege. These are things I have experience at one point in my life that make me think of race as something that holds me back. Something that in many ways renders me invisible, like the narrator in the Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison. I’m invisible in the world because I can’t be my true self. My true self being …show more content…
For me I will talk about it from my experience and my knowledge of current issues and past issues. Race is something I am very much into talking about and it is something that I often talk about among my peers, friends and family. It seems to be the topic of almost every conversation these days. With everything happening in our city and across the country it is important that we can talk about race and it is important and necessary to hear all sides. Race is something that I was aware of since forever. It something that I feel has always been dragging behind me no matter where I go. Talking about it everyday doesn’t make it easier to talk about, it just makes it become a redundant conversation. Redundant because no one is listening or cares …show more content…
Arguing with each other about racial terminology breeds a spirit of uncertainty and fear, a spirit that forces mouths – and minds close (43).” I agree with this statement and I think that I am guilty in a way of seeing things as white or black. I understand why people who are not of color aren’t able to talk about race, because we do make it about “terminology” and the “that offends me,” rather than trying to look pass being offended or being called something that we don’t identify ourselves as and focus on the bigger picture. On the otherhand I get why terminology is important as well. Blacks have been called every name under the sun. We have been degraded, dehumanized, oppressed, and many other things just because of a racial label. Offensive labels such as, Colored, and Negro, in which African-Americans where label as until recently are terms blacks see as highly offensive for reasons that Colored and Negro are no longer used by African-Americans to describe ourselves and because those are terms were created by racist Southern Whites. If we don’t want to be identified as black than we have that right. If we want to identify as African but not American, we have a right as well. It’s not about getting the terminology incorrect, it’s about removing labels, ideals, and, perceived thoughts surrounding the “incorrect