human tragedy

Permeated with human tragedy. Ever since the first slave boat reached the shore’s of America, a deep affliction to the African race transpired. Generations upon generations were ravished by the rapacity of there captors. Kept enchained and illiterate for hundreds of years, the idea of Blacks as the Untermensch in American society was milled into the American psyche, the remnant of which still till today remains. Untermensch, a German word, meaning sub person has often been used to describe the African status compared to that of their white counterparts. In the short stories “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara and “Battle Royal” by Ralph Ellison, the authors use the idea of race determining the social struct...