The Prevalence of Social Injustice in Today America

Royal Battle: The Prevalence of Social Injustice in Today America
One of the most controversial contemporary American literary works that raised eyebrows in the 1950s was Ralph Ellison’s essay, Battle Royal. A short story told in the first person, with the main character, the narrator being a young high school graduate whose grandfather’s deathbed last words hunted for the better part of his life. The dying grandfather had called his son, the narrator’s father to his bedside and gave his last speech; thus, "Son, after I'm gone I want you to keep up the good fight. 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 give up my gun back in the Reconstruction. Live with your head in the lion's mouth. I want you to overcome 'em with yeses, undermine 'em with grins, agree 'em to death and destruction, let 'em swoller you till they vomit or bust wide open." Just when they were all wondering what was wrong with the dying old man for uttering such strange words, he muttered to conclude his final speech in a more fierce tone and said, "Learn it to the younguns" (Ellison 1). From that moment, the young man who had been told several times that he took after his grandfather in character, was never himself, he lived his life in the guilt of being a traitor whose appearance of humility was just a showoff to satisfy the power that be, like his grandfather had advised at his deathbed. His fear was soon to be confirmed as he was invited to deliver a speech at “a gathering of the town's leading white citizens” where his experience over there is the central theme for the masterpiece, Royal Rumble. The essay depicts the typical survival struggle of the black Americans ever since his first arrival from the slave ship into the country centuries ago, up until Ellison’s days, and till the dawn of the next day. Points raised by Ellison in the book are mainly on social injustice, which include inequality, brutality, and mutual suspicion in the country. Of course, howbeit, in passing, Ellison (4) did not leave out sexism in the society in this narrative but controversial literary work. Sadly, these issues are still very much with us today, and we have to talk about them, overlooking them will only confirm Ellison’s portrayal of the society’s deafening silence to the survival struggles of the downtrodden and battered around us.
Following the ratification of the 15th Amendment in the 1870s, it was believed that racism would be a thing of the past in the great United States of America. While the African American that had survived to see the historical day jubilated in a heavenly ecstatic mood, little did he know that the context of the Freedom Proclamation was not as simple as it appeared on paper. His immense relief was not particularly for himself for he knew too well that he had but a little while to enjoy this long-awaited ‘liberty’. His joy was mainly for the young generation coming after him. He had longed to be heard, trusted and respected as a human being; to be judged by his deeds and to be loved for his good conducts. Sadly for him, no matter how he pushed and no matter how he cried, he was always found out by his sin. The same sin his grandfather perpetually tried for, the same crime his father was convicted of, and they lived all their lives trying to find justice. Justice, they sought, and acquittal they pursued until they gave up ghost trying.
So, when he finally heard it announced that he would no longer have to run and hide for his skin color, which he does not have the power to change, he heaved a sigh of relief and grin in satisfaction. Unfortunately, days ran years, and many decades after, all his wishes seem to be a mirage. While the content of the law had set him discharged and acquitted, the forces that appeared powerful than him would not stop reminding him that never would his generation be genuinely free. Long after the amendment, the African American still struggles to find his relevance, in the schemes of things. The same issues raised by the American essayist years ago are still very much with us. Today, the great nation of American is still a theater of prejudice where inequality, racial and gender discrimination are still prevalent. Suffice to say, that the black man is only free on paper, but never indeed, and might never indeed be.
Firstly, the identity struggle is still a daily experience an average young African American as he remains invisible not only to his immediate environment but also to himself. The same question is being asked by him of everybody, wanting to know who he is. His quest for an answer has got him into more troubles than he envisaged, and the more he tries to get out of the quagmire, the deeper he finds himself going down the dungeon of quicksand with nothing to hold on to. In today America, black people stand the higher risk of being shot and killed by the police than white people, and many studies conducted have suggested that this is not completely due crime rate or socioeconomic factors, and might be a case of racial bias (Lopez et al.). The prevalence of social injustice still stares us in the face up until now. For instance, a look at the number of convicts in the American in prisons shows that black African Americans form the highest number. Lopez, et al. also explain that an African Americans are the most imprisoned in the country as 4,347 out of 100,000 black Americans stand the risk of being incarcerated, the highest rate among other races in the country. Just like the narrator in Ellison’s essay, the African American is still, to a large extent, living as a stranger in the land where his fathers and forefathers have sacrificed so much to build, they have paid the due just to ensure the generations coming after them live in peace and freedom which eluded them all their ‘born days’. Unfortunately, the tendency to continue living like a traitor and in pretence is inevitable for an average African American to survive the societal cruelty and abuse.
Apart from brutality and hostility, another critical effect of social injustice is the economic hardship of the black man in America. Of all other races in the country, the black Americans are the most impoverished. Statistics show that almost 30 per cent of black America population lives below the poverty line, the highest when compared to Hispanic, Asian and White people (Lopez et al). It is sad to note that in the 21st century, a black American is still, in some places, being denied job opportunities not because he is not qualified or competent enough, but because he is who he is. Lopez et al explain that “historically, unemployment rates have been around twice as bad for black people as their white counterparts”, the economic odds against him limit his chances of an improved life, and thereby makes him live, just a little better than his grandfather’s slavery days. The disparity in the purchasing power could be traced to the segregation in his educational pursuit. Just like it was in centuries back, there is still discrimination in some American schools. While segregation in public schools has been deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court ruling, however, the reality is different. Investigation shows that racial segregation is still very much prevalent in schools “because residential segregation has kept black kids stranded in neighborhoods with mostly black schools and white kids in neighborhoods with mostly white schools” (Lopez et al). In other words, African Americans are still being restricted from some areas in the country.
Another issue raised by Ellison (4) was the sexism in the society. Though this is not peculiar to American environment, as it happens almost everywhere, however, the author opened our eyes to the menace of sexual perversion and lust among the highly placed people in the society and how their victims in this indulgence have majorly been women. Ellison painted a picture of how the ‘respected gentlemen’ at the gathering turned the young stripper to a sex object, to show how disrespectful they were to the female gender. This is one of the reasons why human trafficking and child prostitution are still prevalent in society today because the wealthy and prominent men among us are still largely the major customers to the industry. It is clear that “many buyers [at the prostitution market] are married and occupy high-status positions in society, including doctors, lawyers, and politicians,” thus the thriving nature of the shady industry (Ensign). While these influential buyers get their inordinate sexual desires satisfied, the reverse is the case for the sellers who are victims of many societal waves of abuse. Doctor Ensign explains further that “upwards of 90 per cent of sex workers have histories of childhood sexual abuse, untreated post-traumatic stress disorder, and are disproportionately persons of color from lives of poverty, including homelessness.” Sadly, those in the position to change the victims’ lives for better are the ones who by their patronage to the industry, compounding their woes. Studies have it that both voluntary and forced prostitution often results in trauma and other critical medical conditions for those women used either in the prostitution business or pornography industry.
Although the central theme of the essay is more of inequality and sexism, which is human’s cruelty against his fellow human, an abuse of power and position, however, it would be a great disservice to the author’s work if we shut our eyes against the injustice to the great nation of America. The dirty spot of racism has stained America's greatness which is supposed to be spotless. “It was in the main ballroom of the leading hotel………” (Ellison 2). The description of the venue depicts a beautiful scene with the attractive physical structure, which must have cost a fortune to put together, however, the beauty of the edifice was utterly marred by the dirty royal rumble and sexism that characterize the sort of activities going down inside. Today, America is presented to the outside world as a fascinating and attractive nation with perfect structure, which makes every young man and women from all walks of life develop and nurture an America dream, only to be welcomed with the reality of the battle royal by the endemic segregation that lingers on with no end in sight. This picture painted by the narrator could as well be a wakeup call to those at the helms to know that despite the enormous amount of money spent yearly for the advancement of the country’s socio-economic progress, the efforts and resources will always be dented by the old malady of racism. In other words, America is being undermined by the structural injustice that has bedeviled her for centuries.
Another critical point from the literary work that is worthy of mention is the grandfather’s guilt of being a traitor. “All my born days I have been a traitor,” the grandfather had said in his deathbed, urging his son, the narrator’s father to continue the trend (Ellison 1). One can deduce from this statement that most of the highly placed and respected black Americans have only been living by what “they believe works” as opposed to what they genuinely believe, just to have ‘peace and respect’ from the society. However, no matter how the black man lives in pretence, he can never be free from the guilt of being a ‘traitor’. The narrator’s dream after the award confirms this. For a while, he felt so proud of himself, so elated and felt appreciated for the ovation, and the scholarship he received at the gathering. The news got to his neighborhood, and his neighbors were trooping into their house to congratulate him on the success. For that moment, he felt on top of the world and in a very rare mode of what his life has represented since that day at his grandfather’s deathbed, he even felt free from the late man’s curse. However, the ecstasy only lasted for just a while as his late grandfather whom he thought he had been free from, was waiting for him in his dream. His woes got more compounded by the true reflection of the accolades he had earlier received, which only meant to keep an eye on him and to keep him running for the rest of his life.
In conclusion, social injustice and sexism is cancerous prevalence that still reigns supreme in our great nation. Just as if the injustice on its own is not grievous enough, more grievous is the way we are not allowed to talk about it, and maybe we just may talk about it but only by a slip of the tongue. Like the narrator's experience, we are meant to look the other side while the battering continues, after which we are to pretend like nothing ever happened. Ellison has shown by the analogies of the men’s reaction at the mention of the word social ‘equality’ during the young man’s speech (10) and also his dream with his grandfather at a circus (12) that there will never be absolute peace and trust between all parties concerned as long as we continue the pretence game. The only solution is to talk about it, see injustice to one as an injustice to all regardless of color, gender or race, and let humanity, love and fairness prevail over prejudice.

















Works Cited.
Ellison, R. Battle Royale by Ralph Ellison. Houston Community College. HCC Learning web. https://learning.hccs.edu/faculty/selena.anderson/engl2307/readings/battle-royale-by-ralph-ellison/view. Accessed 10 Jan. 2019
Ensign, J. Prostitution: Exploitation, Not Work. Why the term "sex work" is problematic. Psychology Today, 2018, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/catching-homelessness/201806/prostitution-exploitation-not-work. Accessed 10 Jan. 2019
Lopez, G., et al. How America Has — and Hasn’t — Changed Since Martin Luther King Jr.’s Death, in 11 Charts: From Economic Well-being to Criminal Justice Issues, Racial Inequality is Still Very Real in America. Vox, 2018 https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/4/4/17189310/martin-luther-king-anniversary-race-inequality-racism. Accessed 10 Jan. 2019