Blog #4~

1st Allusion

Chapter One, our protagonist is expected to present a speech he wrote for his graduation in front of wealthy and important white men. He talks about how he feels about his speech and he briefly compares himself to his peers (eight other black men who aren’t giving speeches but are trying to prove themselves to these white men to gain money and respect). While doing this he says, “In those pre-invisible days I visualized myself as a potential Booker T. Washington.” This caught my eye immediately since I’m currently taking a course on African American History and Booked T. Washington was one of the main abolitionists we focused on last unit.
Booker T. Washington (born 1856, died 1915) was born a slave in South West Virginia, he started to learn how to read after being emancipated at age nine. He put himself through Hampton University and later became the first president of the Tuskegee Institute in 1881 at only age 25. He was seen as one of the main leaders for Black Americans post-Reconstruction Era and was very well respected from not on the black community but the white communities as well.

2nd Allusion

Speaking of The Reconstruction Era, on page 16, our protagonist’s grandfather decided to get something off his chest on his dying bed. What he said was pretty lengthy but one part of what was said was, “I never told you, but our life is a war and I have been a traitor all my born days, a spy in the enemy’s country ever since I gave up my gun back in the Reconstruction.” I’m still trying to figure out what the grandfather was trying to say, as well as the main character is, but I think the gist of what he was getting at was that he felt he had betrayed his people to please the whites since they have all the power and control and thought pleasing them would be best- but he later comes to the conclusion that this was a mistake and it made him a traitor to his people and a spy for the whites.
The Reconstruction Era was a historical period of time for Black Americans. Having begun in 1863 and ending in 1877. This era followed the American Civil War and many tried to redress the injustice brought from years of slavery and making many attempts to get social, political, and economic equality for African Americans. This book is set after the Reconstruction Era but still revolves around heavy cases of segregation, ignorance, and pure racism and I’m sure The Reconstruction Era will be mentioned many more times in this book.