In mid-twentieth century America, it was hard for African-Americans. Even though slavery was over with, racism still played a part in African-American’s lives. Racism was well alive back in the mid-twentieth century and was expressed in different ways. Racism was not just about calling an African-American a “nigger”. Racism played a substantial part in how African-Americans were treated by the white man. Although Ellison’s “Battle Royal” and Toomer’s “Blood-Burning Moon” both inhabit a society divided along unquestionable racist lines in mid-twentieth century America, Ellison’s story adheres the realization that personal accomplishments signifies nothing for an African-American in a society dominated by racism. While Toomer’s story, it depicts
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The narrator was asked to come and attend a gathering of the town’s leading white citizens. The narrator was very delighted to be asked to come deliver a speech due to the fact that he was an African-American male and probably would not be able to get a chance like this again. The narrator and other African-American boys were asked to attend this meeting. Instead of uplifting, these young black boys, the leading white citizens only humiliated these boys. These white men made it hard for boys due to the fact they asked these boys to get in the ring and fight each other. The narrator finds out that he is part of the Battle Royal and states “I suspected that fighting a …show more content…
The crowd makes a huge deal out the scuffle between Bob and Tom. No white person wanted to hear about an African-American male putting their hands on another white man. When the mob went to go search for Tom they took “shotguns, revolvers, rope, kerosene, torches” (1310). These were objects that the white man would use back during slavery to try to teach that “nigger” a lesson. The white people in “Blood-Burning Moon” still had a thought process of thinking that they still own and control blacks. The white men stuck a stake into the ground, poured the kerosene on to rotting floorboards, and bounded Tom to the stake. White people were stuck in the thinking process of being a slave owner by the way they went about killing Tom. African-Americans were free, yet still being treated as if they are someone’s
The narrator was asked to come and attend a gathering of the town’s leading white citizens. The narrator was very delighted to be asked to come deliver a speech due to the fact that he was an African-American male and probably would not be able to get a chance like this again. The narrator and other African-American boys were asked to attend this meeting. Instead of uplifting, these young black boys, the leading white citizens only humiliated these boys. These white men made it hard for boys due to the fact they asked these boys to get in the ring and fight each other. The narrator finds out that he is part of the Battle Royal and states “I suspected that fighting a …show more content…
The crowd makes a huge deal out the scuffle between Bob and Tom. No white person wanted to hear about an African-American male putting their hands on another white man. When the mob went to go search for Tom they took “shotguns, revolvers, rope, kerosene, torches” (1310). These were objects that the white man would use back during slavery to try to teach that “nigger” a lesson. The white people in “Blood-Burning Moon” still had a thought process of thinking that they still own and control blacks. The white men stuck a stake into the ground, poured the kerosene on to rotting floorboards, and bounded Tom to the stake. White people were stuck in the thinking process of being a slave owner by the way they went about killing Tom. African-Americans were free, yet still being treated as if they are someone’s