A Salon article explores how some of white supremacism’s rise can be traced to rage over having had a black president. Quoting Ellison’s “Invisible Man,” it makes the case that the right couldn’t really see Obama.
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Invisible Man & Lolita Changed the ’50s
Ellison’s “Invisible Man” and Nabokov’s “Lolita” both challenged basic 1950s assumptions. The former changed public perceptions on what it meant to be black while the latter violated a tacit agreement not to go digging under neatly manicured lawns bordered by white picket fences.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged 1950s, aestheticism, formalism, Hans Robert Jauss, horizon of expectations, Invisible Man, Lolita, modernism, Ralph Ellison, reception theory, Richard Wright, social protest novel, Vladimir Nabokov Comments closed
Clifton, Ellison Help Explain Whitesplaining
White politicians, if they want the Black vote, must be cautious about “whitesplaining.” Lucille Clifton gives us insight into the insensitivity in “note to self.” Brother Jack in “Invisible Man” is racially insensitive in this way and may have lessons for certain Bernie Sanders supporters.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "note to self", Bernie Sanders, Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton, Invisible Man, politics, Race, Ralph Ellison, whitesplaining Comments closed
Ellison’s Elegy for Innocent Police Victims
The Invisible Man’s eloquent funeral elegy for his friend Tod Clifton, shot by a policeman, could be delivered over any of the unarmed black men who have been shot by police and vigilantes in recent years. It is relevant again as the city of Cleveland seeks to blame 12-year-old Tamir Rice for his death.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Black Lives Matter, Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison, Tamir Rice Comments closed
Boehner’s Monkey and Ellison’s Sambo
Speaker John Boehner may keep a wind-up monkey to express how he feels jerked around by the rightwing Freedom Caucus, which prompted him to resign. There is a similar puppet in Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man,” also signifying emasculation and humiliation.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Freedom Congress, GOP, House of Representatives, Invisible Man, John Boehner, Kevin McCarthy, leadership, Paul Ryan, Ralph Ellison Comments closed
Bernie, Black Lives Matter, & Invisible Man
Bernie Sanders’s early missteps with Black Lives Matter, which bewildered him and his followers, is explained in Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged angry middle, Bernie Sanders, Black Lives Matter, Donald Trump, Invisible Man, Race, race issues, Ralph Ellison Comments closed
Making the Invisible Visible
Tuajuanda Jordan, our college’s newest president, turned to Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man” to articulate her vision for the future.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison, St. Mary's College of Maryland, Tuajuanda Jordan Comments closed
Trayvon Was an Invisible Man
The racial profiling at the heart of the Trayvon Martin killing is captured nowhere better than in Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged George Zimmerman, Invisible Man, racial profiling, racism, Ralph Ellison, Trayvon Martin Comments closed
