In addition, in the story it is stated that "It is enough to be black; blacks are meant to stay put..." Elias Nkomo's defiance of the oppression in South Africa aided in his suicide. He freed himself from the oppressor there, but not from the oppression around him. Although he gave into the pressure eventually, he did take the first step. In his self discovery he realized that he could no longer accept the mediocrity that was expected of him. When he began to question why things were the way they were, and how they were or came to be, he began to spread his wings of curiosity.
In general, the human characteristic of curiosity helps to aid in the evolution process. As Elias began to evolve, things around him remained the same. When he broke away from the oppressor, he was still oppressed, and that was detrimental to his ability to produce original works in America. As his settings changed from the oppressors in Africa to the oppressors in America he found no escape from oppression. In fact, he realized that the oppressors from Africa were still affecting him. The apartheid in Africa prevented black people from growing, and when he evolved enough to know that he had to see life out side of Africa; he was not welcome to come back to Africa. According to the short story "It was the South African government who killed him..."
Furthermore, the author's tone of regret helps to explain affects of oppression on every race. "Everything is ambiguous here" The different people didn't know what they could or couldn't do according to the law. It was hard to get around the law when working with black people. Everyone just had to accept there place and because of that didn't bother to fight any injustices or problems so they regretted that. In addition, because Elias was still being oppressed, he produced mediocre work and received approbation for it. He didn't think it was very meritorious but accepted the praises, and when he did that, he accepted his oppression. The only escape he found from that was death. His only freedom was to end his life in the hope that the oppression would no longer choke his life away or control him.
In short, when the curiosity of the oppressed allows them to evolve they must not only free themselves from the oppressor, but also from the oppression. Freedom from one and not the other does not emancipate nor liberate an individual as much as it retains their inferiority, imprisonment, and oppression. When the oppressed defies oppression they are no longer the puppets of the oppressors and must never return to that. When the oppressed learn to think for themselves they will emancipate themselves; then and only then can they really be free.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
Young Black men in their late twenties or early thirties living in urban America, lost and abandoned, aimlessly walking and hawking the streets with nothing behind their eyes but anger, confusion, disappointment and pain. These men, running the streets, occupying corners, often are beaten beyond recognition, with scars both visible and internal. These men, Black men-sons of Afrika, once strong and full of the hope that America lied about-are now knee-less, voice-broken, homeless, forgotten and terrorized into becoming beggars, thieves or ultra-dependents on a system that considers them less than human and treats them with less dignity and respect than dead dogs. I am among those men. I will never forgive White people for what they have done to Afrikan-American me, women and children. This is our story, and this time we are not asking for or waiting on apologies and…
- 2313 Words
- 10 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Bibliography: Christian, Charles M., and Sari Bennett. Black Saga: The African American Experience : a Chronology. Basic Civitas Books, 1998.…
- 2592 Words
- 7 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Maria W. Stewart delivered an emotionally charged lecture that expressed her views regarding African American freedom and treatment in America. Stewart addresses many other positions and logically appeals to them. Stewart was trying to send the audience a message of awareness to the continued injustices and mental barriers America is facing. She uses allusions, pathos, and anecdotal evidence to effectively portray her position.…
- 347 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Olaudah Equiano was born in the 1700’s in an African village. When he was eleven years old, Equiano and his sister were captured and sold to different slave masters throughout Africa to soon be boarded on a ship headed for the West Indies. When Equiano first boards the ship he explains, “[It]…filled me with astonishment, which was soon converted into terror, when I was carried on board. I was immediately handled, and tossed up to see if I were sound, by some of the crew…”(McDougal 94). When Equiano starts to realize what was going on, he begins to become frightened by the people on the ship and soon understands that there is no hope for him. Equiano states, “I now saw myself deprived of all chance of returning to my native country, or even the least glimpse of gaining the shore, which I now considered as friendly…” (95). Equiano shows his readers that even though he doesn’t know exactly what he was about to endure for the rest of his life, he knows that there is no chance of him going back to his homeland end enjoying the life he once had. Equiano’s introduction to slavery was very similar to the way that many other African’s were brought into the world of slavery.…
- 1052 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays -
Summon a vision of yourself in a crowded setting, surrounded by white men, women, children and seniors. With that image carved, draw yourself as a young African American in the 1960s, despised by the white man. Though you stick out like a sore thumb, eyes glance past you, blinded in your midst. An ‘outcast’ has now become your terminal label- segregated, judged, despised. Does this story sound familiar? Yes, it does, as millions of books in the 21st century alone, have exhibited these themes. While eloquently written, Melba Patillo Beals unoriginality in the subject of hardships in African American lives in the time of severe oppression makes this story a tale told too often, which should not be exposed to a classroom of easily distracted teenagers.…
- 726 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Salah O. Ahmed Intro to Afro-American Literature Professor Todd Duncan (This could use a longer conclusion) Inner Peace In the essays, "How it Feels to be Colored Me" and "On Being Young-a Woman-and Colored", the authors, Zola Neale Hurston and Marita Bonner, respectively, tell a similar story of having grown up and had to deal with racism in the Post-Bellum Era. In their appeal to a new generation, one less stigmatized by slavery and more hopeful about the future than its predecessor, Hurston and Bonner take divergent paths to point to a common understanding. The convergence between their works centers on the idea that in order for the young people of their generation to achieve a sense of peace with the world around them, they must first find peace within themselves.…
- 1463 Words
- 4 Pages
Powerful Essays -
At age eleven Equiano’s happiness had a turning point as he was kidnapped along with his sister. They were treated brutally and were forced to do dangerous jobs. If orders were not followed, they were flogged unmercifully. Later, they were separated as they served different masters. He later reunited with his sister when they had the same master. They cried of happiness as their mournful days were over; unfortunately, they were torn apart once again. His pain and anxiety was worse of what he had experienced after her fate. Equiano describes the many days he traveled and the frequent change of masters. He was sold back and forth in the West Indies and England. However, he came into a town called Tinmah in Africa. He then served a wealthy widow. Receiving many benefits as in eating with them and being dressed well, he forgot he was a slave and became adopted to the wealthy family. He was kidnapped again; however, this time, he arrived to a ship where slaves were being marketed. There were thousands of slaves chained under the deck as they were going to be shipped over the “Middle Passage” or across the Atlantic Ocean. The slaves suffocated as there was little room to even move or breathe. The filth and heat brought sickness to the people; therefore, they cried and groaned as they slowly died. Equiano preferred his former slavery instead of the situation he was living on the deck. Not only were blacks treated brutally but also the white people that misunderstood…
- 1021 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
The Colonial period (1746-1800) was the start of this fight against inequality and imprisonment of black Americans, through the form of narratives, letters, and poems. These works of literature are focused amongst the changes and struggles of coming to the “New World” from Africa. This narrative’s “illustrate the emotional aspects,” and direct their “bears upon the “doubleness,” the “divided” selves of Africans who were transplanted, against their will, to colonial America” (Smith 5). These Colonial period authors such as; Equiano, Phillis Wheatley, and Jupiter Hammon through literature wrote about their experiences, daily life, and struggle with freedom. By sharing these views through literature, the authors of the colonial period were able to record history and lead others closer to equality and social justice for all black Americans.…
- 1175 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
Gaining freedom does not mean one has gained equality. The civil war ended slavery but African Americans still suffered from racism. Ralph Ellison touches on this topic in his short story “Battle Royal” which portrays the life of a young African American post-civil war. Before the narrator in Ralph Ellison’s “Battle Royal” was an “invisible man” he was a young African American who had to deal with oppression in order to survive in his modern time. Ralph Ellison uses symbolism, metaphors, and imagery in “Battle Royal” in order to enhance the portrayal of the life of a young African American male who tries to achieve academic success while being oppressed by his white counterparts.…
- 819 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
A lack of education led the blacks to poverty and they struggled every day just to survive. They were limited in the paths they could take, forcing many to hustle on the streets or worse. It was not that they chose this, but due to society’s lack of choices for them.…
- 1714 Words
- 7 Pages
Better Essays -
African-Americans have been oppressed since their arrival in America in 1619. Due to their differences in physical characteristics, Whites considered them an inferior race and therefore treated them as property, disregarding their human rights. After many years of exploitation and abuse, in 1791, slaves on the small island of Hispaniola revolted against French rule and successfully gained their freedom in 1804. It gave hope to African American slaves who, in turn, decided to stand against their masters and gain their freedom. Every one of those rebellions was extremely violent. They were so passionate about the cause and have been oppressed for so long that they targeted anyone that was white: men, women and children. In Donn C. Worgs ““Beware of the Frustrated”: The Fantasy and Reality of African American Revolt”, the author examines African Americans’ need to use violence when it comes to revolting against their oppressors. On an opposite note, in “Civil Rights Success and the Politics of Racial Violence”, Joseph E. Luders emphasizes on the positive effects on nonviolent protests. Both authors justify these opposing strategies while making some valid points. This research paper will examine the strong arguments of both Worgs and Luders while attempting to understand how each strategy has individually shaped the mind of African Americans in today’s America.…
- 1613 Words
- 7 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Claudia Rankine highlights social injustices that occur in the daily lives of people of color in her book “Citizen”. She put the wrong doings, prejudices and stereotypical situations against people of color into a collective story. It is troubling that these accounts occurred. These sort instances pinches something inside of you. A sense of irritation builds up. It puts into perspective that even in modern times such acts…
- 347 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
In America, centuries have evolved and the people acknowledge that there are continuous issues in the struggle of Black identity. These issues have been witnessed in jobs, schools, restaurants, neighborhoods, etc. Evolving since slavery, leaders in the Black community wrote motivational speeches and literary narratives. These expositions promptly exposed and articulated the inhumane oppression inflicted on the African American race.…
- 722 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
As a result of this feeling, we put up a façade and often act out in extraordinary ways, ultimately causing conflict. An example of this can bee seen through the character of Jimmy Kruger. Despite his devious and deceitful ways, it is clear his actions where not only out of spite, but also out of fear. Predominantly fear of racial equality, loss of status and authority. Being a white man on a black mans land, Kruger was well aware of the rightful owners of South Africa. In addition with the uprise of the Black Consciousness movement, he began to feel a sense of vulnerability. It threatened life as he knew and he was to make certain that such things would not take place.…
- 423 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Miers, Suzanne; Roberts, Richard L. (1988). The End of slavery in Africa. Univ of Wisconsin…
- 1171 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays