Racism In If Beale Street Could Talk

The author of If Beale Street Could Talk uses racism throughout the novel to show how blacks were treated unfairly and the struggles they had to live with. The story follows the experiences of a young black couple, Fonny and Tish, set in Harlem, an area in New York mostly inhabited by poor Negroes. The story takes place in 1974. Fonny and Tish grew up together on the same street and shared their lives. When Fonny is twenty-one and Tish eighteen, their friendship begins to mature into a loving relationship. As they explore their new love, they must also deal with an American society that is very cruel and unjust to blacks, especially black men.
When the story opens up, we read that Tish is visiting Fonny in jail but it isn’t until later in the