African American Literature

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African-American Writers on Institutional Racism
African-American literature has come a long way from the abolitionist movement that dealt with slavery to civil rights and contemporary works that deal with institutionalized racism. Institutional racism can be considered as a spillover effect of Jim Crow policies influencing systemic practices, political and economic structures to place minority ethnic groups at a disadvantage. Systemic discrimination through history is apparent through disparities in regards to housing, criminal justice, wealth, employment, education, and healthcare. Institutionalized racism influence African-American writers to incorporate several tactics and subject matter in their works to handle its impact. They use black characters and promote African American traits and semantic to enrich the status of the race amidst the prejudiced climate. Works such as Langston Hughes’ Harlem and Toni Morrison’s Sweetness address the issues and limitations black people face due to institutional racism. African-American writers have been at the forefront of tackling systemic racism by identifying and challenging its impact in their writings to promote progressive discourse, as institutionalized prejudice receives minimal public criticism.
In Harlem, Hughes addresses how the dreams of black people are silenced by the presence of institutionalized racism. Hughes wrote the poem at a time when de jure segregation was still in play hence systemic discrimination was more overt.

The poem illustrates vivid analogies to induce the image of the deferred dream of a black person. The speaker asks whether unfulfilled dreams of black individuals “…dry up/ Or fester…/…stink…/ Or crust…” CITATION Hug51 l 1033 (Hughes). Hughes attempts to evoke an image of the limitations African-Americans face in trying to chase their dreams because of deep-rooted bigotry in the system. After the economic depression, black families in Harlem were left deprived and institutional racism could not allow them to recuperate in terms of better housing, loans, education or employment. Hence, writers such as Hughes tackled its effects as themes in their works to prompt progressive discourse.
Similarly, in fostering the discourse, latter groups address black identity in America and injustices suffered because of systemic racism. In Sweetness, Morrison places the concept of skin color and black identity on a spectrum to bring to light the effect of institutionalized racism on black people in the contemporary climate. The story centers on a black mother who ill-treats her dark-skinned child who results from her paranoia and traumatized sense of self from her own upbringing. She justifies her harsh parenting to the systemic bias in the society that will also punish her daughter for being black. She asserts they are in a society “…where you could be sent to juvenile lockup for talking back or fighting in school” CITATION Mor15 l 1033 (Morrison). The statement denotes to the criminal injustices black people endure due to unfair prosecution based on race. Moreover, the story also addresses instances of redlining where the mother is charged more for rent by the proprietor based on her race. Morrison tackles the dynamic of black identity and the negative psychological impact institutionalized racism has on its victims.
In essence, African-American writers have incorporated the negative impact of institutionalized racism as themes in their literature through history. The works identify the facets of systemic discrimination both to the audience unfamiliar to them and to those who relate. They handle themes from criminal injustices on black males, redlining, to educational barriers to young African-Americans. Hughes and Morrison deal with systemic racism by identifying its destructive impact on black individuals particularly psychologically. Institutionalized racism is an issue that cannot be attributed to a single guilty party as it is established into the institution and arises as a joint action of society. Hence receives minimal public criticism, accentuating the significance of African-American literature in fostering progressive discourse and emphasizing cultural consciousness.
Works Cited
BIBLIOGRAPHY Hughes, Langston. “Harlem (“What happens to a dream deferred?”).” Montage of a Dream Deferred. 1951. Web. 13 October 2018.
Morrison, Toni. “Sweetness.” The New Yorker (2015). Web. 13 October 2018.