EN218 Lecture Notes - Double Consciousness
Document Summary
Ellison, invisible man: individual identity/cultural identity, requires an honest confrontation with reality (ellison) Races shapes your conception of yourself: confrontation with the ways race shapes reality and identity, segregation /the internalization of racist values. Indolence it"s too much work to go out and gain your freedom, so you just kind of stay where you are. Not morally or ethically responsible enough to govern their own lives. White america owns culture and therefore owns other people"s conceptions of their selves. Always looking at yourself through other people"s eyes, but this can always be overcome. Color veil is a barrier of communication. White americans who are trying to fight racism don"t have this sense of having 2 worlds, which is bad. Why is not being racist, racist: suppression of racist thoughts, still placing a standard of behavior onto the narrator, takes away choice/agency. Takes away his ability to deal with certain problems.
