Guitar: Prejudice And Racism

History has showed us the opinionated inferiority of African Americans and blacks in general. This hate and prejudice towards blacks birthed many emotions within the black race. The two most prominent feelings that resulted from this are love and hate towards themselves. Some blacks hate their skin because when they look in the mirror they feel inferior; they feel like they have to act like something they are not to be accepted into society as a conventional citizen. Constant abuse has led to feelings of remorse and resentment, sadness and anger all mixed in one. Another case are those who feel love for those that are oppressed. These are the people who feel the obligation to avenge those who can’t and won’t stand up for themselves. These radicals
Unlike Macon, however, Guitars feelings are very blatant. He is a very outspoken young man; a leader in the eyes of Milkman, the main character. Also, he is very proud of his race and would do anything to defend it. He does not understand why blacks feel like they are inferior to whites and why nobody stands against oppression. This is evident during the heated argument that took place in the local barbershop. They were placing bets whether the murder of a black kid would be put in the newspaper and Guitar said “What the fuck is the difference? A kid is stomped and you standin round fussin about whether some cracker put it in the paper. He stomped, ain’t he? Dead, ain’t he?” (pg81) He also says “So he whistled! So what! He supposed to die for that?”(pg81) His statements during this argument show his extremely strong feelings toward the death of one of his own. He was extremely angry that other black people were justifying his death as well. They say he should have known better. This angers Guitar because he believes that black people are humans, and they shouldn’t be treated as animals. He also hates that blacks accept the fact the whites think they are inferior and don’t do anything about it. This is why he goes to another level. His hatred for whites and his love for blacks are so great that he resorts to joining the Seven days, an organization that is made to reenact the murders of blacks, but the victims are whites. Milkman asks him if he’s really willing to kill people and he responds by saying “Not people. White people.” (pg155) According to Guitar, Whites aren’t people. He also says “It’s necessary; it’s got to be done. To keep the ratio the same.”(pg 81) This is Guitar’s “justice.” He believes he is standing up for those who are oppressed by whites by killing them. This is extreme, but he believes he is morally correct. He believes that every white person has the capacity to kill a black man just for fun. Since every white