Theme Of Freedom In Charles W. Chesnutt's The Marrow Of Tradition

Throughout the history of the United States of America, the country has always been divided by race. No matter the century or decade, there has always been an issue present dealing with this problem in some shape or form. Though the value system of the United States has always been based on equal rights for all, there have always been those individuals that cannot except that all men are created equal. There is no supreme race. Everyone is entitled to his or her natural rights given at birth. Every person should have the same opportunity as the other as long as they are willing to work for what they receive. In Charles W. Chesnutt’s novel, The Marrow of Tradition, racial riots in the South are the key issue present in regards to racial tension.

Americans take great pride in not having a ruler that dictates their every move. How it is possible that in the past Americans felt, and even feel today, that there is a white supremacy? This standpoint may be a more modern view of the issue, but it is still a prevalent one. Before the Civil War, African Americans were not only viewed as another’s personal property, but also as non-human entities that were below everyone else. Our own Declaration of Independence, the very document that announced our freedom from a ruling power, states verbatim, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Even though the time frame of The Marrow of Tradition is based after the Civil War, there is still evidence of the concept of civil rights in its text. The most conveying evidence is provided when Dr. Miller is asked to sit in the colored car once he passes the Virginia state line. Dr. Burnes defends his friend by saying, “And my friend has his rights to maintain” (p. 54). The other side to this ironic concept brings a completely different view. Once African Americans were freed as slaves, it was almost as if the people were more limited than when they were enslaved. This

This claim is made clear in chapter twenty when it is said, “Suspicion was at once directed toward the negroes, as it always is when an unexplained crime is committed in a Southern community (178). The only backing for this claim is that the blacks were not raised in the same manner the whites were. How could they be, though, when every opportunity for them to better themselves as a whole was shot down by the white supremacy? The ideology of whites in regards to blacks in this situation is perplexing, because in essence, the fear and misunderstanding felt by the white community was due in large part to matters of their own doing, not any actions of the black