In the story of “Sonny Blues” has an underlying hint of racism that is throughout the story. It is not directly referencing; however, you can continuously feel it as you read the story. The first example being when the writer describes the projects and uses symbolism, “project housing that rise out of Harlem like rocks in the middle of the boiling sea” (Baldwin, 2018). This was written in an era where minorities were subjected to horrible conditions and segregated and were not fortunate to have the same opportunities as others. The projects represent the effect of racism on a pressed community. The narrator’s feelings of empathy and sympathy that he has for his student are due to him being able to relate to the pain of the world they will encounter as young African American men who will often be oppressed solely based on the color of their skin. The suffering the narrator speaks about is one in which racism is inherited for generations before. The narrator makes a bold statement in regards to racism which he has the narrators mother explains how white men who were drunk murdered her brother in- law. This is a bold statement because she could simply state that her brother in law was murdered but the for the writer to include murdered by white men he was trying to state this message. She is trying to warn the narrator that this could potentially happen which is an indication that racism is still a very real threat to her
In the story of “Sonny Blues” has an underlying hint of racism that is throughout the story. It is not directly referencing; however, you can continuously feel it as you read the story. The first example being when the writer describes the projects and uses symbolism, “project housing that rise out of Harlem like rocks in the middle of the boiling sea” (Baldwin, 2018). This was written in an era where minorities were subjected to horrible conditions and segregated and were not fortunate to have the same opportunities as others. The projects represent the effect of racism on a pressed community. The narrator’s feelings of empathy and sympathy that he has for his student are due to him being able to relate to the pain of the world they will encounter as young African American men who will often be oppressed solely based on the color of their skin. The suffering the narrator speaks about is one in which racism is inherited for generations before. The narrator makes a bold statement in regards to racism which he has the narrators mother explains how white men who were drunk murdered her brother in- law. This is a bold statement because she could simply state that her brother in law was murdered but the for the writer to include murdered by white men he was trying to state this message. She is trying to warn the narrator that this could potentially happen which is an indication that racism is still a very real threat to her