Heat Of The Night Analysis

In Chapter 4 of his book, which is aptly titled “Postwar Passions”, Daniels chooses to focus on the experiences of African-Americans in the post-WWI era, specifically focusing on race riots that occurred during the “Red Summer” of 1919. (104) There is a long-standing history of racial discord between whites and African-Americans, but the post-WWI years are a unique time. It has been more than fifty years since slavery has been abolished, but it will still take another forty plus years before discrimination on the basis of race is made illegal in America. Industrialization after the turn of the century and blatant racism in the South led to the migration of millions of African-Americans to northern

Slavery was abolished after the Civil War, but the Negro race still was not accepted as equals into American society. To attain a better understanding of the events and struggles faced during this period, one must take a look at its' literature. James Weldon Johnson does an excellent job of vividly depicting an accurate portrait of the adversities faced before the Civil Rights Movement by the black community in his novel “The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man.” One does not only read this book, but instead one takes a journey alongside a burdened mulatto man as he struggles to claim one race as his own.

The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B Dubois is a influential work in African American literature and is an American classic. In this book Dubois proposes that "the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line." His concepts of life behind the veil of race and the resulting "double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others," have become touchstones for thinking about race in America. In addition to these lasting concepts, Souls offers an evaluation of the progress of the races and the possibilities for future progress as the nation entered the twentieth century.

There was a heavy amount of contextual evidence demonstrated throughout this book, what with the minute print and informative words given. The perspectives of the South and the North were infused with the perspectives of people today, and how discrimination has been implemented throughout our society both then and now. With ‘the intent to introduce readers to individual African American working women’ [Preface, xv], she elicits such feelings and highlights the real struggle of those African Americans that were confirmed and transformed by giving examples from historical events such as The Great Depression, the American Revolution, Labor movements and reforms in both the North and the South.

Although this book is titled, “The Black Codes of the South,” the writer begins his story discussing slavery, then leads up to emancipation, where four million slaves were freed. The freedom of slaves brought about the enactment of the Black Codes in the southern states. Interestingly, the writer includes newspaper sources from the South, as well as the North, excerpts from various plantation owners ‘diaries, notices and laws. The Black Codes came to fruition because the Southerners needed them as laborers , and because the free Negros were not anxious to sign contracts, the South labeled them as idle and vagrants

The life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination… the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land (qtd. in W.T.L. 235).

Howard Thurman removes the window dressing in the African American experience of segregation in America. Thurman in his book, “The Luminous Darkness” paints an obscure portrait that delved deep into the consciousness of Black men, women and children freshly freed from chattel slavery. Two hundred years of slavery and one hundred years of darkness seeping into each soul perpetuated by an evil explained only through the Word of God. Although this book was published in the 60’s, the stigma segregation continues resonate in the souls of those who remember and perhaps even in the souls of those who do not.

The discriminating social stratification in 1950’s developed a set of servile behavior on the blacks. They were thought to be inferior to whites, and were treated accordingly. Moreover, different parts of the country had various ranges of sensitivities while dealing with the blacks. For example, in Mississippi things were particularly tense after the Parker lynch case. No black man would dare look into any white man’s eyes in fear of the repercussions. On the bus, a man warned Griffin to watch himself closely until he caught onto Mississippi’s ways. In an extreme case like this, it was vital to learn about their roles and behave accordingly.

through. The book addresses the issue of racism before the time of Martin Luther King Jr. and

In the 1940‘s racial segregation gripped southern American life. The notion of separating blacks from whites created immense tension. Separate water fountains, bathrooms, restaurants, etc. were variables that helped keep races apart. “Jim Crow” laws in the south were intended to prevent blacks from voting. These laws, combined with the segregated educational system, instilled the sense that blacks were “separate” but not equal (174). Many people of color weren‘t able to survive through this time period because of the actions of whites. One individual who overcame the relentless struggles was Ralph Ellison. Ellison, a famous author, depicted racial segregation in the 1940’s through a fictional short story entitled “Battle Royal.” Battle

When John Howard Griffin wrote the book “Black Like Me” he made it so that it was set in the southern states of the 1950’s. Griffin was a middle age man during the era of segregation ,he decided to change the color of his skin to see how his kind will react to the new depiction. The setting was critical to the story for being in the post-slavery era people where blacks and whites were separate but not equal. The tone of the story is gentle yet produces a powerful meaning. The main message from this story is racism is a very evil subject.

In the short story “Drenched in Light” by Zora Neale Hurston, the author appeals to a broad audience by disguising ethnology and an underlying theme of gender, race, and oppression with an ambiguous tale of a young black girl and the appreciation she receives from white people. Often writing to a double audience, Hurston had a keen ability to appeal to white and black readers in a clever way. “[Hurston] knew her white folks well and performed her minstrel shows tongue in cheek” (Meisenhelder 2). Originally published in The Opportunity in 1924, “Drenched in Light” was Hurston’s first story to a national audience.

John Howard Griffin, a well renowned author from Dallas, Texas, develops a reflective story on racial segregation in the deep American South in his novel, Black Like Me. In 1959, Griffin set off on a six-week personal journey in states including Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, and Georgia in order to reveal how it felt to be treated as an African American. He darkens his skin by taking prescribed medications he requested and by spending up to fifteen hours a day under an ultraviolet lamp. Throughout his journey, Griffin keeps a journal of his experiences which display various examples of stereotypes, double standards, disenfranchisement, and the “Pyramid of Hate.” Through these examples, Griffin exposes the racial tensions that still exist in the deep American South.

The Lives of African Americans in America’s South Disturbing, haunting, and strange, these photographs are a vivid reminder of how rough the lives of African Americans were in the South. These photographs give the viewer a much more detailed idea of how African Americans were treated in the South than any story could ever convey. These photographs show the pain, loneliness, and poverty that these Americans lived through every single day of their lives. Richard Wright crafted this book by organizing each part into similar groups to add emphasis to the main struggles of everyday life for African Americans. Richard Wright begins 12 Million Black Voices with part one, Our Strange Birth, a collection of stories and photographs of the work that African Americans were

Richard Wright’s memoir Black Boy (American Hunger): A Record of Childhood and Youth recounts the author’s personal experience growing up as an African American male in the Jim Crow South, as well as his initial years in the North in the late 1920s. While it is a personal account of one man’s life in this time period, Wright’s memoir also sheds light on the broader role of black men in American society in the early twentieth century, particularly with respect to race, gender, and class relations. By no accident, insight on these relations can be gleaned from the title of Wright’s memoir itself. I argue that Wright chose the provocative title Black Boy (American Hunger): A Record of Childhood and Youth in order to both utilize shock