Prejudice in Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes Essay -- skin colo

Prejudice is a cancer that spreads hate among its perpetrators and victims alike. In 1930 Langston Hughes penned the novel, non Without Laughter. This powerful story, written from the perspective of an African-American boy named James sandlike Rodgers, begins in the early 1900s in the small town of Stanton, Kansas. through with(predicate) the eyes of young sandy, we see the devastating impact of racism on his family and those they are close to. We also see how the generations of abuse by whites caused a divide within the discolor community. Among, and even within, black families there were some(prenominal) mixer classes that seemed to hinge on desire equality through gaining the blessing of whites. The class soulfulness belonged to was determined by the color of their come up, the type of perform one attended, their level of education, and where an individual was able to find work. From an early grow it was clear to Sandy that, the lighter a person s skin was, the higher their social status. As the only young tike in his household, he was exposed to many conversations among the adults around him that revolved around race. A primary example of this was one of the conversations between his grandmother, Aunt Hager, and her friend, Sister Whiteside. Sandy and the two elder women sat at the kitchen table together to address a meal while the two women chatted. Sandy sat restfully and absorbed their talk of everything from assuming the white ancestry of a lighter-skinned child they knew, to the difficulty of keeping colored chillens in school (13-15). Sandy not only learned through the conversations of the adults around him the importance of skin color, he witnessed a number of events that cemented the notion. Sandys somewhat wild Aunt, Har... ... porters and washwomen (188). passim Hughes Not Without Laughter, we see the long-term effect of generations of prejudice and abuse against blacks. all over time, this prejudice manifested itself through the development of several social classes within the black community. Hughes, through the eyes of young Sandy, shows us how the color of ones skin, the church they attend, the level of education an individual attained, and the type of employment someone could find impacted their standing within the community and dictated the social class they belonged to. Tragically, decades of slavery and abuse resulted in a class remains within the black community that was not built around seeking happiness or fulfillment but, equality through gaining the approval of whites. workings CitedHughes, L. (1930). Not Without Laughter. New York, NY, USA Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.