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Problems with racism in literature
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Ernest J. Gaines's Gathering of Old Men
In A Gathering of Old Men, by Ernest J. Gaines, racism plays a huge part of life in the south. When a white man is found dead; his family and friends start to gather to find the man who did this. After time these men start to drink and make a plan to kill the man; who just happened to be black. This just shows how even though the Civil was brought freedom to blacks, there is still hate towards them because of their skin color.
After time the black men also start to gather at Mathu’s house (the man who murdered the white man) and they all bring twelve gauge shotguns. The sheriff arrives and asks who killed that man, and all the black men say, “it was me.” The sheriff then threatens to take them all to prison, but he cannot because he does not know who the murder is. The sheriff knowing the racism of the town; has a deputy stand on Mathus sidewalk to make sure nothing happens. As time goes by and the white men are starting to get angry the man who’s son was killed steps in and says “this cannot go on any longer.” This shows how after time color or race does not matter to people, and how after time a man is a man and a woman is a woman.
This upsets the rest of the men even more because this shows them how they are not superior to the black men anymore. As time goes on the sheriff is starting to worry even more; because he knows the men have been drinking excessively. When night falls the sheriff and his men go home, praying that nothing will happen. By this time the white men are very drunk and want revenge. To the white men’s surprise when they arrive to Mathu’s house they are out numbered at least two to one. The white men realize that they are going to loose once again. When the white men start to shoot this shows how childish people are when they are not on top of the world.
A preacher from the local church says everyone that wants to be in a union is a communist. The miners recruit the strikebreakers and immigrants from Italy into the union. Two men from a private security firm come to the town. The men are sent by the Stone Mountain Coal Company to break up the union by kicking out miners from company owned housing. The miners and their families pitch large tents in a clearing in the woods in response to the men’s efforts. A infiltrator in the union that is working with the men holds a meeting off camp. The men ambush the camp at when all the union men are away and people were injured. The town is at a boiling point and there are often small battles between the union and the security firm. On May 19,1920, the Matewan Massacre occurred. The union and the security firm have a shootout in the middle of the town. Through unionizing, the town of Matewan resist the company's efforts to control them and secured more money and better working
While the lynch mob is being organized, we are introduced to Tetley. The man who ends up being the leader of the mob. The town's judge, Judge Tyler tells Tetley if he finds the rebels who are involved in the murder and theft, he is to bring them back into town so they can stand on trial. Unfortunately Tetley has a completely different plan in mind, he believes that his son, Gerald is too feminine and would like to make him kill one of the rebels in order to make him more like a man. Baard's tells us that a cowboy should never shoot first, hit a smaller man,...
The man claims he is waiting for Death to take him for some time, and the angered men are enraged by the name Death. The rioters ask where to find Death, and the old man says they can find death under a certain oak tree. The rioters rush to the tree and find gold coins. The men do not want to be taken as thieves, as discover a plan to transport the gold at night. The men direct the youngest to retreat back to town and grab wine. While the youngest is away, the two remaining men design a plan to kill the third to increase their profits. The man in town is also consumed by greed, and he decides to poison the wine. Retreating with the poison wine, the youngest man is killed by the other two rioters. To celebrate, the two men drink the wine. Within minutes, all three of the greedy rioters are dead. After his tale, the Pardoner asked the group for
Mapes, the white sheriff who traditionally dealt with the black people by the use of intimidation and force, finds himself in a frustrating situation of having to deal with a group of black men, each carrying a shotgun and claiming that he shot Beau Boutan. In addition, Candy Marshall, the young white woman whose family owns the plantation, claims that she did it. As each person tells the story, he takes the blame and, with it the glory.
One novel entitled Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston tells the story of a wife who was sentenced to prison after shooting her husband in self-defense after he had contracted rabies and turned violent. Another novel entitled Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor details racism in America during the Great Depression (Goodreads). Despite the slavery era and modern day being two different periods of time, there are still some unresolved issues and situations in which revolve around the idea of racism and oppression.
Martin Luther King said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Racism is still an issue that can be seen in the twenty-first century. Although, tons of progress has been made over the last century, some still hold on to racist beliefs. The majority of classic American literature demonstrates the racism that was present in the early twentieth century. By looking at the theme of race in the American classic, To Kill a Mockingbird, it is clear that people are quick to judge others based on their own opinions and feelings.
This demonstrates to us that no matter how much your legal or moral laws are violated, what matters is how you as an individual react to the situation, justly or unjustly. This movie is centered around the notion that if you are a person of ethnic background, that alone is reason for others to forsake your rights, although in the long run justice will prevail
Several groups of white and black men rode the trains in the thirties for transportation. One night a group of white men started a fight with the black men on the train, which led to them getting kicked off. Later on in the case it is proved that the white men start the fight because both of the men have different stories and one of them admits to starting it all. After the white men were kicked off of the train, it was ridden to the next stop somewhere in Alabama. Upon arriving at the station, the black men and the white women were arrested for vagrancy.
The White Family portrays corruption and poverty. They take part in shoot-outs, robberies, gas- huffing, drug dealing, pill popping and murders. The whites are mainly known for their wild and criminal ways, as they are for their Hill Billy tap dancing. West Virginia is the poorest state in the United States. Being the poorest state in the United States, the education system is not as we would all expect. Without an education or available employment, the whites resorted to becoming a corrupt family to survive in the declining economy of West Virginia. Corruption within the White Family began when the father Ray White was murdered. This caused them to drop out of school and retaliate by breaking the law in every way possible. That led to a lack education and motivation to succeed.
In his 2017 film, “Get Out,” writer and director Jordan Peele offers a satirical social commentary on racism in modern American society. The film follows the story of Chris, a young African-American man, as he travels to meet his white girlfriend’s family for the first time. Rampant with subtle and often humorous allusions to modern-day racism, the horror film reveals how scary it is to be a black man in America.
The narrator is not the only black male in the story to have experience the racism with the white men. The narrator tries to get away from the racism but struggles to, he come across multiple African Americans that attempt to do the same thing. All of these provide an idea to the correct way to be black in America and it also demonstrates how blacks should act. It is said that anyone who doesn’t follow these correct ways are betraying the race. In the beginning of the story, the narrator’s grandfather says that the only way to make racism become extinct that African Americans should be overly nice to whites. The Exhorter named Ras had different beliefs of the blacks rising up to the whites and take power from the whites. Even though these thoughts come from the black community to take the freedom from the whites, the stories reveals that the are just as dangerous as the whites being racist. The narrator has such a hard time throughout the whole story exploring his identity. While doing so, it demonstrates how so many blacks are betraying their race because the have such a hard time dealing with it. In the end of the story once the battle was over the boys are brought to get their payment. That is when the narrator is able to present his speech to everyone. He was completely beat up and bruised and blood coming from his mouth and nose when he begins his speech. All the other men are laughing and yelling at him,
After years of tragedy at the hands of the whites because of racism, the old men gather at the plantation. Each man arrives, gun in hand, admitting to the killing of Beau to tell their own story of how tragedy affected their existence, realizing one day I’m going to die and I’ve never stood my ground for myself or my lineage. Deciding to settle the score and reclaim their humanity by not "[crawling] under the bed like [they] used to" (Gaines 28). For example, Tucker reveals how they beat his brother because he wins against them in a contest between mules and a tractor. Tucker states, “How can flesh and blood and nigger win against white man and machine? So they beat him. They took stalks of cane and they beat him and beat him. I was there, and I didn’t move” (Gaines
The prevalence of white privilege had not occurred to me previously, but after reading White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack I have a better understanding of the impact my privilege has on myself and others. I also started to realize that this privilege can not only cause emotional distress for people, but also prevent them from achieving success. For instance, privilege can cause people from wealthier areas to receive more money for their school compared with those from poorer areas. This does not only impact the student by affecting the quality of their education, but also makes it harder for these students to rise above the poverty
The story starts off by Jefferson being accused of a crime that he did not commit, he was forced into being with the criminals and was the only person in the store who was not shot and killed. Jefferson, being an African American, was discriminated against by the jury and was sent to jail. “The judge commended the twelve white men for reaching a quick and just verdict”(Gaines 8). This is one of the first events to take place in the novel revealing quickly that the story is taking place in a time of racism. Jefferson was sentenced to death by electrocution, not only causing depression in Jefferson and his family, but also causing many internal conflicts in Jefferson and Grant.
Racism was very evident in this story and also in the time period before the American Civil War.