The Effects of Racism on the Oppressed

Abstract：Race is a sensitive topic which can not be avoided in western countries. Many great writers have worked very hard to describe racism as they saw it and written a collection of stories that addresses the social realities faced by the blacks， such as Native Son， Invisible Man， Beloved and so on. This paper aims to investigate the devastating effects of racism on the development of individuals reflected in several novels. Racism can cause violence， crime， and lose of identity.

Key words：racism；crime；violence；identity；passing

Introduction： Racism is the belief that a particular race is superior or inferior to another， that a persons social and moral traits are predetermined by his or her inborn biological characteristics. The most important form of racism is slavery. Slavery was not abolished until in 1863 when Lincoln released Emancipation Proclamation. Even after the abolition of slavery， the blacks still suffer terribly from racial discrimination. In order to know the inner world of the blacks， to promote the status of the blacks and to enrich the culture of human beings， the author tries to explore the effects of racism on the oppressed through analyzing some famous novels， such as Native Son， Invisible Man， and Beloved.

1. Violence and Crime

As the protagonist and main character of Native Son written by Richard Wright， Bigger is a product of his environment and the racism and violence that suffuse it. His family background， social surroundings and bitter experience cultivate him with an impassioned hatred toward the whites for their racism. Bigger and his family members live in cramped and squalid conditions， enduring poverty and little opportunity for education. Bigger simply feels that he is forbidden anything he might actually want. Bigger once wanted to be a pilot， but black men were not allowed to go to aviation schools. He once wanted to join the army， but it proved to be segregated and based upon racist laws. In the society， he feels like an outsider. “We black and they white. They got things and we aint. They do things and we cant. Its just like living in jail”（Wright， 1940）.

Having grown up under the climate of harsh racial prejudice， Bigger is burdened with the conviction that he has no control over his life and that he can not aspire to anything other than menial and low-wage labor. In response to the racial prejudice and his overwhelming fear and desperation， Bigger did exactly what the whites always feared he would do. He murdered two girls and then tried to fly from the police. He was then traced， captured， and sentenced to death.

Bigger is not exclusively a black phenomenon. In her novel Beloved， Tony Morrison condemns slavery as an institution so perverse that it could mutate a mothers love into murder. Sethe， the protagonist of the novel， attempts to murder her children in an act of motherly love and protection. “I took and put my babies where theyd be safe” （Morrison， 1987）. She killed her children because she didnt want to let them suffer the physical， emotional， sexual and spiritual trauma she endured as a slave at Sweet Home.

2. Lose of individual identity

The most dangerous of slaverys effects is its negative impact on the slaves senses of self. Under the powerful dominance and persuasive influence of the white culture and ideology， most of the black people have great difficulty in seeking a right identity for themselves. They are not sure what kind of person they should be. They have no their own principles to lead them.

The nameless protagonist of the novel， Invisible Man written by Ralph Ellison， is a black man living in a racist American society. Throughout the novel， the narrator finds himself passing through a series of communities， from the college to the Brotherhood， with each microcosm endorsing a different idea of how blacks should behave in society. The college forces him to reject the black culture that shaped his early identity and forces him to accept a position of inherent inferiority to whites. The Brotherhood requires blind adherence to the collective attitude of the organization and allows no room for individual thought， expression， or action-the very things that the narrator craves. He has followed the ideology of the college and the ideology of the Brotherhood without trusting or developing his own identity. “And my problem was that I always tried to go in everyones way but my own. I have also been called one thing and then another while no one really wished to hear what I called myself. So after years of trying to adopt the opinions of others I finally rebelled. I am an invisible man” （Ellison， 1952）. As the narrator attempts to define himself through the values and expectations imposed on him， he finds that， in each case， he is unable to act according to his own personality and becomes literally unable to be himself. The narrator is a representation of the struggle to define oneself against societal expectations.

Conclusion： This paper examines the negative physiological and psychological effects of racism. It is the root of most violence， crime， and self-alienation. Even though much has been achieved nowadays， we can not deny the fact that racism and racial discrimination have remained widespread around the world. We still have a long way to go before all men are truly equal and the world is free from racism. The writer of this article hopes that there will be more and more people spending their time， energy， knowledge and ingenuity in studying racism.

【References】

[1] Ellison， Ralph. Invisible Man[M]. Random House Inc， New York， 1952.

[2] Morrison， Toni. Beloved[M]. Random House Inc.， New York， 1987.

[3] Wright， Richard. Native Son[M]. Random House， 20Vauxhall Bridge Road， London， 1940.

【作者簡介】

嚴爽（1988—），女，漢族，湖北黃岡人，英語語言文學碩士，南昌工學院講師，研究方向：二語習得。