Southern United States

Both Black Boy by Richard Wright and Invisible boy by Ralph Ellison consists of two African Americans who show their determination to survive through the Jim Crow era in very similar yet different ways. Throughout Black Boy, hunger is frequently referred to, literally and metaphorically. Richard’s hunger requires him to receive a well-paying job, which is difficult considering the era he lives in and his race, in order to pay for food; however, as he is trying to accomplish this, he has a desire…

Wells was born a slave in Holly Springs, Mississippi to her father James, a slave carpenter, and mother Elisabeth, a slave cook. Her birth came six months prior to the Emancipation Proclamation. Although she herself never functionally served as a slave, her parents remained working for their master. At sixteen, Wells was orphaned, as a wave of yellow fever took the lives of her parents and several siblings. Devastated, Wells turned to education as a means to shape her life. In Memphis,…

In his iambic rhythm tetrameter “We Wear the Mask,” Paul Laurence Dunbar conveys the idea, that people hide their most inner feelings through his sad and deceitful tone with the imagery of a mask. The title “We Wear the Mask” is repeated two times in a row at the very beginning of the poem to indicate that the narrator’s view is more than just wearing a mask. This is stated to express a greater importance but it is not yet known as to why people are covering up their faces and if they are…

Sometimes names can be deceiving. While there may have been people labeled as ¨free blacks¨ these people weren't actually free. In 1860 there was about 476,000 free African Americans in the United States. 221,000 of these ¨free¨ African Americans lived in the North (BACKGROUND ESSAY). By this time a document called the Northwest Ordinance had passed in 1787, outlawing slavery in northwest territories (BACKGROUND ESSAY). As a result, most African Americans in the North were supposedly “free”. But…

During the 19th century two intellectuals emerged committed to racial uplift. The two intellectuals involved are Booker T. Washington and WEB DuBois. They both often disagreed on how to best uplift the race as a whole and aid in their progress. Washington had a more conservative approach, where DuBois was more radical. Even after having different views they both had some kind of friendship or help from white Americans. In my opinion I would side with Washington because emphasizes education and…

In Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun,” I most relate to Beneatha. In the play, Beneatha is only twenty years old. When I was twenty, my attitude was similar to Beneatha’s. Out of everyone Beneatha appears to be the most educated. She appears to be a smart person, but at the same time she appears to be obnoxious and egocentric. When I was twenty, I was a very self-centered person. I felt that the world revolved around me. I didn’t think or care about my family’s hardships as I was busy…

Marguerite Ann Johnson was born in St. Louis Missouri on April 4, 1928. Raised in Stamps Arkansas she experienced prejudice and discrimination because she was of African American descent. From her southern education and religious beliefs thru adversity to single motherhood and her self classification as an entertainer. She became a prominent and significant voice of our time. The life course of this remarkable woman would encompass nonnormative and normative life events. A poet Laureate with…

“They lived there because they were poor and black, and they stayed there because they believed they were ugly… their poverty was traditional and stultifying” (38). By this excerpt, one can understand that Morrison is inferring that being an African American can strongly determine one’s political stance and even lead to affecting one’s own personal thoughts of oneself. In The Bluest Eye, the concept of human equality does not exist; hence in the novel The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison demonstrates…

us know that African Americans were enslaved workers and slave owners. Being a property meant that they had to follow every rule and do as told. Around the eighteenth century, the slavery of African Natives became a notable source of labor for the Southern plantation system. The development of plantations made the use of slaves more necessary. Due to the development of plantations, the idea of slavery was not only influenced among the people but it was also a profitable investment. Social…

were purchased as servants. They were bought and sold as a source of slave labor, were denied the most basic human rights, and were often subject to abuse.Well not all black people were enslaved, some that were free, mostly found in the Northern States, had to carry papers proving they were not slaves. Otherwise, they faced capture and transport to the South where they could be sold into slavery. It…