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Gianni Madera

Mr. Canek

Political Studies

22 February 2019

Invisible Man, Invisibility

The ​Invisible Man​ is a narrative by the late Ralph Ellison that takes place during the

1930s. This novel shares the experiences and the journey of a young black man from the South,

that travels to the North. The narrator and protagonist of the story remains as an invisible man

but, doesn’t realize it until after living up North. According to Ellison​’s novel, ​Invisible Man​,

invisibility is not only being affected by and following the world​’​s stereotypical views, but also

being blinded by stereotypes that apply to others. Individuals that are from minority groups can

escape invisibility and become visible by embracing their true personality and building empathy

for others to peacefully fight for a cause that you believe in. In our modern society,

undocumented immigrants are undoubtedly targeted as the most recent invisible minority due to

forced segregation, exploited labor, and dehumanization.

Ralph Ellison infers that invisibility is developed and emerges due to stereotypes that are

enforced by others. The invisible man receives advice from his friend, a War vet, who then goes

on to explains his views of social hierarchy to a fellow black man named Crenshaw, “You’re

hidden right out in the open-that is, you would be if you only realized it. They wouldn’t see you

because they don’t expect you to know anything, since they believe they’ve taken care of

that…”(Ellison 154). What the vet is trying to say is that “life is a game” and it should be played,

in this case that is the only option for black folk in a white world, but the game shouldn’t be
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believed in. Furthermore, he goes on to say that the knowledge of this concept has been removed

elsewhere by white folks, but the concept remains in their current spot. He suggests that

Crenshaw and other black folks aren’t seen or acknowledged due to their ignorance, which is

portrayed by white folks. Their ignorance is a stereotype that is given to blacks by whites, which

of course doesn’t apply to all black folks, but it forms an invisible state that is projected outward

to others and can even project inwards to yourself.

The invisible man narrates, “I myself, after existing some twenty years, did not become

alive until I discovered my invisibility” (Ellison 7). In the ​Invisible Man​, the protagonists has felt

invisible his whole existence, and now feels alive only after realizing his invisibility, or true

personality. Building empathy for others allows you to see through stereotypes, while embracing

your true personality helps you become visible and staying clear from stereotypes. According to

“​Opinion: How to fix American Policing”​ by Ken Armstrong and the information he gathered

from ​The Oregonian:​ “Last week The Oregonian published a story about a black actor and a

white police captain in Portland that captured the good that can come from something so simple

as two people meeting to share their experiences...Both men left with a greater understanding —

a principal goal of policing reforms that are centered on building trust by bringing the police and

the community together.” ​By getting to know communities, police officers would be less hostile

towards small crimes due to their intel about the community they are surrounded by. This

proposed reform could address the issue of invisibility by building empathy for the people in the

community. To elaborate, if this proposed reform was in action during the era of the novel,

Invisible Man,​ Clifton's utterly unjust death would have been prevented.
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Immigrants are the current group that are made invisible by our society. ​According to

Bob Ortega’s article, ​Migrants describe hunger and solitary confinement at for-profit detention

center,​ which includes information from various sources, “GEO Group is fighting two lawsuits

in federal court -- one filed by the state of Washington -- that accuse it of violating labor laws by

paying a dollar a day or less, regardless of how many hours they work, to detained migrants

whose labor is essential to keep the Northwest Detention Center running.” ​Undocumented

immigrants are detained by ICE and put into detention centers, which claim to have “Voluntary

Work Programs”. The “Voluntary Work Programs” are mandated by ICE, but offer low wages.

The immigrants that have been detained have to suffer through harsh working conditions and

receive little to no compensation. These detention centers are saving extreme amounts of money

by exploiting detainees, through forcing labor onto immigrants. The state of invisibility is

developed by stereotypes and those that enforce stereotypes that inflict a minority. Currently

undocumented immigrants have emerged as the minority group that is invisible but, in the

Invisible Man,​ which takes place during the 1930s, African-Americans are invisible to society.
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Works cited

Ellison, Ralph. ​Invisible Man:​ Originally published by Random House, Inc., in 1952

Armstrong, Ken. “How to Fix American Policing At a painful time, a roundup of proposed

remedies.” The Marshal Project, July 13, 2016, ​“How to Fix American Policing”

Ortega, Bob. “Migrants describe hunger and solitary confinement at for-profit detention center.”

CNN, Updated July 11, 2018, ​“Migrants describe hunger and solitary confinement at for-profit

detention center.”

Gianni,

This is an amazing paper! If you don’t have a CRA artifact for Senior Defense, I would

100% use this! If you want more feedback on how to make this paper even better and

stronger, come talk to me! I think one thing you could do forsure is add a counterclaim!

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