Be Doers of the Word: An Analysis of Frederick Douglass’s Christian Ethics

Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass depicts religion and Christianity as two separate realities in the world in which he was living.  Religion is characterized by the slave masters who Douglass encounters throughout his early life as a slave.  This religion is hypocritical, cruel, and dehumanizing. In contrast, for Douglass, Christianity must

A Better Way: A Look at Ras the Exhorter/Destroyer in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man

In Ralph Ellison’s novel, Invisible Man, the narrator seeks to reconcile the dying words of his grandfather with navigating his own reality and identity. His grandfather confesses that he had “been a traitor all [his] born days, a spy in the enemy’s country” (16). This is not the reality that he wants for his descendants,

We Have to Join Hands

Today, I am writing to figure out what I think, what I feel, and what I believe. My favorite author, Flannery O’Connor wrote in a 1948 letter, I have to write to discover what I am doing. Like the old lady, I don’t know so well what I think until I see what I say;

History of Prejudice: A Reflection on A Red Record by Ida B. Wells

One of the most damaging lies against the black man is the suggestion that he is a monster, capable of immoral acts against women, particularly white women. From emancipation in 1865 until today, there has been a targeted attack against the reputation of black men. This attack has infiltrated the media and the consciousness of

Casual Racism: A Poison that Eats at Our Hearts

A few years ago, I took a class called Black Literary Tradition that focused on over two hundred years of literature from black writers in America and around the world. This class completely changed my outlook on the black experience in the United States and helped me to better understand my casual racism. Casual or