How Black is Black? The tragedy of being Black in Richard Wright’s Native Son and Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man.

Abstract

Colour difference has been one of the most powerful tools for racial segregation and identityformation in colonial spaces. One of the central engagements of postcolonial literature has been to challenge and dismantle this process of identity-formation based on half-truths or no truths and prejudiced notions of race/ethnicity, nationality and colour. When it comes to racial segregation on the basis of colour, AfricanAmerican literature stands as an important tradition in challenging the stereotype of the Negro created in white-centric discourse. This paper intends to examine two landmark novels in African-American writing, viz. Richard Wright‟s Native Son and Ralph Ellison‟s Invisible Man in order to demonstrate how the dark colour of the Negro skin becomes the ultimate criterion for the segregation of an entire race of human beings by another, thus marginalizing, criminalizing and dehumanizing millions in the process. The paper attempts to analyze the various socio-economic, cultural and political factors that function behind this insidious process of segregation and also highlight the threat(s) such treatment may create in future. Also taking into account the conflict between the policies of assimilation and assertion, the paper probes into the white American society‟s attempt to eradicate the native identity of the Negro and turn him/her into a non-entity and the reasons behind such intention.