How+Racism+Prevents+the+Invisible+Man+from+Attaining+Goals+and+his+Identity

=Racism Movements:=

__Jim Crow Laws:__ (1875-1954) Restrictive laws enforced on African-Americans after the Civil war era. These laws banned Afican-Americans from public places such as: resturaunts, hospitals, parks, schools, and libraries. These laws soon developed into African-Americans having separate drinking fountains, public restrooms, schools, eterences, shops and so on. The laws became titled "separate, but equal," but the African-Americans felt no equality. [1] __Apartheid:__ (1948-1994) Racial segregation in South Africa involving the white minority and the black majority's governments. The laws of the apartheid qualified where members of each group (White, Black, Asian, Indians and Pakistanis) would live, what jobs they could attain, and what kind of education they would obtain. Anyone who disagreed with the Apartheid laws were labled communists while governing forces passed strict security laws that turned South Africa into a police state. [2] __Holoucaust:__ (1933-1945) The Nazi Party of Germany descriminated against Jewish, Homosexual, Polish, Russian and other persons during this time period. They were sent to displacement camps where they were forced to work and probably never saw their families again. Adolf Hitler, the ruler of this era decided on a "final solution" where he planned to rid the world of Jews. [3] The Invisible Man's struggles are similar to the situations of those persecuted in these racial movements. Because of the constant stereotyping and oppression of these specific groups of people, many sacrifices were made to find uniqueness and achieve goals of equality. Many of the individuals that the Invisible Man came into contact with, along with people in previous generations, were killed and persecuted due to their color, race, or beliefs. For example, Clifton would not have been killed so mercilessly if he had not been a black man, and the Invisible Man himself would not have been subjected to an experimental electroshock therapy instead of the traditional labotomy had he not been a black man. The same as Blacks wouldn't have been segregated in the civil rights movement due to the color of their sin, or due to the majority like the apartheid. If the Jews had different views, they would not have been treated as differently as the Invisible man was.

=Textual Support!= 'Social...' 'What?' they yelled. '...equality-' The laughter hung smokelike in the sudden stillness. I opened my eyes, puzzled. Sounds of displeasure filled the room. The M.C. rushed forward. They shouted hostile phrases at me. But I did not understand." (31)**
 * "I made a mistake and yelled a phrase I had often seen denounced in newspaper editorials, heard debated in private.

This displays that many people in the South did not want equality, and did not really understand what the African-Americans had to offer to their community. As opposed to...


 * "I was crushed against a huge woman in black who shook her head and smiled while I stared with horror at a large mole that arose out of the oily whiteness of her skin like a black mountain sweeping out of a rainwet plain... I wanted desperatly to raise my hand to show her it was against my will, I kept expecting her to scream." (158)**

...when the Invisible Man is in the subway in New York. Northern white people are not as close-minded as those in the south. This racial standback of the south highlights the facts that the racism of not being equal lead the Invisible Man to let his individuality escape him because he is not the same as everone else. He no longer has similar goals or the ability to that of a white man. His objective had to be changed to something that would fit his race, closely related to the Jim Crow laws where "seperate, but equal" came into effect, where the blacks felt no equal rights.

'What's the special?' 'Pork Chops, grits, one egg, hot biscuits, and coffee!' He leaned over the counter with a look that seemed to say, There, that ought to excite you, boy. Could everyone see that I was southern? 'I'll have orange juice, toast and coffee,' I said coldly." (178)**
 * "'I've got someting good for you, " he said, placing a glass of water before me. 'How about the special?'

When the Invisible Man first comes to the north he still has the mindset that he has to act like a white person in order to get respected and get somewhere in life, wheras later on in the book...

'Sho, all you want, long as I got 'em. I can see you a serious yam yeater, young fellow. You eating them right away?' 'As soon as you give them to me,' I said. 'You want 'em buttered?' 'Please.' 'Sho, that was you can get the most out of 'em. Yes-suh' he said, handing over the yams, 'I can see you one of these old-fashioned yam-eaters.' 'They're my birthmark' I said. 'I yam what I am!.'" (265-266)**
 * "This is all very wild and childish, I thought, but to hell with being ashamd of what you liked. No more of that for me. I am what i am! I wolfed down the yam and ran back to the old man and handed him twnty cents. 'Give me two more,' I said.

At this point in the book the Invisible Man is finally comfortable with his roots and begins to see the humor in the mentality of blacks in the south and how a white lifestyle is not necessarily the right lifestyle. Previously to this point, the Invisible Man felt that in order to reach his goals he had to have a white lifestyle and was insecure within his true culture. This hindered his goals because he was trying too hard, and once he accepted who he was and where he came from, including his culture and the foods that came with it, he could begin to grow and become the person he once wished to be.

'And you?' Brother Jack said to the next man. 'I am of the opinion that it was a mistake.' 'And just why?' 'Because we must strive to reach the people through their intelligence...' ...We are champions of a scientific appoach to society, and such a speech as we've identified ourselves with tonight destroys everything that has been said before." (350)**
 * " 'I liked the speech,' the man said 'I thought it was quite effective'

This is a primary example of how the Invisible Man is being held back. One of the things he is extremely good at is giving persuasive speeches. He becomes a member of the brotherhood thinking he is doing such to help raide awareness of justice and make the chances of equality greater. The brotherhood held him back by claiming his speech about the oppression of blacks was approached the wrong way and should have been more scientific. The Invisible Man then feels like he has lost his individuality because his speeches no longer accomplished anything. He never realized that the brotherhood was bound for nowhere and they were just averting him from achieveing something greater. They treated him unequally such as any other negro in the civil rights movement or the Jews in the holocaust, he was an unheard voice.

'Now you're arguing politics,' the first voice said banteringly." (236)**
 * " 'I don't know, but I believe it a mistake to assume that solutions - cures, that is - that apply in, uh... primitive instances, are, uh... equally effective when more advanced coditions are in question. Suppose it were a New Englander with a Harvard background?'

While the Invisible Man is going through electroshock therapy one of his doctors happens to mention that this brutal treatment would probably not have been used had the Invisible Man been a white college student rather than a black man. This shows that there are different qualities of care given to different people and how dehumanizing and cruel the treatment could be considered. This treatment was a setback for the Invisible Man because he was forced to go through a time of recuperation where he had to find his identity and remember everything that had been forotten during the treatment.

=CULMINATION!!!=

Basically, through all his experiences the Invisible Man realizes that society sees him as just another black male in society. They see him as no different than the black man standing next to him, as if neither have individuality. The Invisible Man becomes aware that people only see him the way that they want him to be and not the way he actually is. This is when the Invisible Man loses his identity and associates himself with invisibility, proving that the world is filled with blind people, who refuse to see him for who he truly is. He becomes brainwashed by Bledsoe, his haunting Grandfather, the brotherhood and others, who lead him to believe he is something he is not, causing him to act in ways in which he would not. After his hibernation he becomes able of being his own self, and making others acknowledge the fact that he has made and is able to make contributions to society as an individual. The Invisible Man wants others like him to break the stereotype and have ignorant people think outside of their racist views.

Citations:

[1] http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/jimcrowlaw1/p/jimcrowoverview.htm [2] http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761561373/Apartheid.html [3] http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005143