The Race Protest

Movies and entertainment outlets speak volumes about the current state of a nation’s culture. Cinematic creations in the United States allow small voices to be heard and controversial issues to be addressed. However, a repetitive and monumental issue continues to be addressed, yet continues to persist in our 21st century culture, racial inequalities. Since the inception of the United States, black men and women alike have been disenfranchised at the hands of the “white man” in America. Instead of continuing the conversation today, the issue is continually silenced referencing the successes and achievements of the Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century. Nonetheless, an unfortunate reality looms upon this great land; racially based systems and structures continue to exist in 2015 the in United States. This paper synthesizes three films focused on racial inequalities in different time periods. Separate but Equal (1991), Selma (2015), and Crash (2005) illustrate how influential the Civil War amendments are, while serving as an uncanny reminder of how the racial prejudices during the 20th century continue to exist in our great nation today. Needless to say our nation has made great strides, but still has a long way to go.

"Battle Royal" gives the reader a frightening look at just how society looks at blacks. In the

I Have a Dream; a speech given by King in front of the Washington Memorial

Rhoden uses different writing techniques to get the reader to view black sports history from different perspectives. Throughout the reading, readers are learning that the history isn’t so much inspirational as much as a struggle and wants to focus on the victories as much as they focused on the defeats. This book seeks to tell the story of the rise and fall of the black athlete, but also to point the way toward redemption. The novel is driven by the purpose of finding light and bringing real power to the African American athletes. The history lessons imbedded in the 40 Million Dollar Slaves interlace the ropes of innovation and conflicts that today define sports today.

“Battle Royal” provides a realistic portrait of the difficulty of being a black person in a

In Ralph Ellison’s short story “Battle Royal,” the experiences of a Black narrator, specifically those molded by the brutal hands of anti-black violence, paint a pessimistic outlook on race relations and the ability for marginalized individuals to overcome the oppressive structures embedded in civil society. To construct this commentary, the text employs symbolism to communicate the ways in which systemic and structural anti-blackness suppresses and oppresses Black communities.

Ralph Ellison’s short story “Battle Royal,” is set in the deep south during the late 1940’s era. Racial tension in the south has always been exorbitantly high. In the 1940’s keeping segregation is still a priority for half the population in the southern states, slavery may be abolished but the physical act of welcoming African-Americans as “Americans” is far from the minds of many Americans. Ellison’s short story accentuates this idea of racial tension and social standards, between the elites of the town and the very intelligent former high school graduate. The story touches on a sensitive topic that America has yet to realize, and it is that people that are considered to be minorities can be subjected to be oppressed, based on their

In addition to the previous events, the “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963 took place. This was located on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to a crowd estimated at 250,000 people. The King gives this speech for freedom; it strongly concerns freedom from slavery, containing the non-violent movement, and a general

Racism was a harsh reality for African Americans after the American slave era and is a prominent theme in the short story “Battle Royal”. This story highlights how racism is not only a powerful tool used to keep people down but can also promote savagery. The author, Ralph Ellison, uses vivid imagery to depict the acts of savagery shown by both the slaves and the white crowd.

Ellison’s use of language helps imply the animalistic treatment of the young fighters (German). A writer for the Chicago Sun-Times, Michael Eric Dyson, is thoroughly amazed by Ellison’s wordplay by saying, “He spoke elegantly of the beautiful absurdity of the American identity (Dyson).” The choice of words Ellison navigate through America’s history of ideas (Dyson). The portrayal of fighters emphasize the fact that “blacks” were socially inferior. White’s would of never thought to view blacks in the same “league” with them. At this time, no one could imagine the battle royal happening with white’s fighting with an animalistic intentions, while rich, black men sat smoking cigars, cheering for brutality. By using nouns and adjectives, the description of the young fighting has a deeper, harsher connotation.

stories of triumph and defeat that, for blacks, amount to a collective epic much like those

Patterson begins his narrative by placing us in the “troubled 70s.” He describes the 1970s as “grim, tasteless years that are best put out of mind.” (p. 13) The mood of the 1970s was described as gloomy, gaudy and depressing. The issue of race remained the nation’s number one problem. During this time there were only two

Martin Luther King’s speech was made after the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. He delivered the “I Have a dream” speech on the Lincoln Memorial steps. He verbalized this speech to millions of people blacks and whites. This is one of the greatest speeches because it has many elements like repetition, assonance and consonance, pathos, logos, and ethos.

The main point of this essay is to inform the readers that racism is not dead and is still happeing in many parts of the country. While many people in the town of Pendleton view the Round Up as a joyus celebration dedicated to the cowboys who won this land, the author argues that the celebration is racist and incredibly outdated, espesiely the Happy Canyon Pageant. In the pageant, the cowboys are shown to be the heroes who conqured the west from the "evil" indians. In fact, the only times the indians are even relavent in the play are when they are circling the wagons and dying in a battle; but the worst part is that the scene is called "Passing of a Race." The name of the scene is degrading and incedibly offensive because in incinuates that

Although slavery had been abolished eighty-five years earlier, the black community found themselves in a similar predicament as before in terms of racial inequities, discriminations and, overtly white supremacy in every capacity of life; in response, the black community formulated a strategy of appeasement and become submissive to survive in this pseudo “Post-Racial Society”. However, in Ralph Ellison’s short story “Battle Royal” he further asserts this claim;