I see the suspicious eyes, the superior stances,
and the line that makes us different. I never understood why I was intended to
feel this way, why others had to live through it and cope just as I did.
Minorities always seem to be living in an oppressed society; even assimilation
fails, the imbalance continuing to be ever present between those of color and
the white race. Racism has always been prominent in society and no matter how
much we deny it, it continues to consume America. For some, this prejudiced
society we live in is one’s worst nightmare, for others it means living through
a different lifestyle, a different being. In The Invisible Man, the narrator
struggles against a racist civilization that tries to envelop him and his quest
to find his identity. They wish to mold him into what society wants, because he
is a black man and not white, the dominant race.
Much like the narrator shedding away his roots
and natural way of living, people today face the same dilemma in which they are
forced to alter their customs to fit their dominant society. The narrator also
gets taken advantage of; either by the doctors at the liberty paints hospital,
the brotherhood, Bledsoe, or society in general. In our society people get
taken advantage of or discriminated against every day. “In 2010, the U.S.
Sentencing Commission reported that African Americans receive 10% longer
sentences than whites through the federal system for the same crimes.” People of color struggle to find their
identities, to impress the overriding community. The narrator in the article
“What it’s like being a young black man in America?” has to frame
himself around the role society throws at him and has to adapt to his
discriminatory environment. Even with him doing that, he is still seen as
criminal, and seen through untrusting eyes even though he is innocent and just
the same as any other boy, in this case a white boy, his age. I've had to deal
with similar things, people looking down at me as if I’m ignorant and can’t even
speak the language. I struggle everyday trying to find a balance between my
identity and what society wishes for me to be in shedding away myself.
I don’t think it should be this way; people shouldn't have to struggle to maintain their identity. They shouldn't live in fear, or be
discriminated against because of how they look, their race, disabilities, and
so forth. Equality should be reinforced to allow everyone the same treatments
and opportunities. The invisible man didn't get equal opportunities; he had to
join in illegal gambling fights run by white men to gain an education. He was
denied job opportunities because of the color of his skin, he joined the
Brotherhood because of the racial inequality being so high. Why should people struggle in this way, live in fear, assimilate, loose identities?
