Racism is considered a collection of beliefs, behaviors, and practices perpetuating an unequal distribution of power among ethnic and racial groups. Racial discrimination is the subjugation of certain ethnic or racial groups in order to preserve the advantages of others, hence developing and sustaining socioeconomic inequities. Discrimination may be detected at the institutional level via historical and structural inequities in socioeconomic, academic, and health indices. August Wilson’s play Fences exemplifies the detrimental impacts of racial discrimination on the well-being of ethnic and racial minorities.
The play Fences is set around the 1950s, and at this time, significant progress had been achieved in terms of racial relations, including the integration of professional sports clubs. However, America as a whole had a lot to do in terms of slavery. Slavery has been abolished in America for more than seventy years, yet its shadow continues to loom large over the nation. Slavery in America was extremely cruel, with enslaved people being beaten and killed for trivial offenses (Ray and Andre 2). All of the actors in the drama are African Americans, and they face prejudice on a daily basis. The South remains officially divided, while a large portion of the Northern area is unofficially separated. Notably, the drama takes place prior to the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. Fences reveals what life was like in the years before the movement’s immense transformation of America. While some actors seem to detect the change, others remain stuck in America’s difficult history.
Troy’s progressive construction of a fence in front of his home serves as a metaphor for division and the overall psychological desire to create a fortress in which a black ‘inner’ or interior may be isolated from the white-dominated outside. The fence symbolizes the geographical impacts of racial segregation in general: the isolation of blacks and the establishment of racial insularity in specific districts. It is a memorial to this fundamental social separation created by white political and economic supremacy. On the other hand, Troy constructs the fence alone; it is primarily his design, though Rose first assigns him the duty. Rose desires the fence to isolate her and her family from the outer world, to safeguard their privacy and the dividing consequences of white dominance in society. While the whites divide to control and restrict black wealth and power, Troy’s construction of the fence is for the division to preserve and affirm the world inside it.
Additionally, it is shown throughout the drama how actors are obliged to describe their environment in the context of how it is constrained by a racist structure of white economic and social domination. Troy’s workplace, for example, is structured in a racial hierarchy that privileges whites since white men are employed primarily to run the company’s trash trucks. In contrast, black men are employed exclusively as garbage collectors. Additionally, most of the dialogue between the characters emphasizes their identity as people of color to define their relationship to white supremacy.
Thus, when Troy speaks with Bono about the nature of their job, a clear image emerges of how whites treat blacks.
“I am not concerned about being fired. Are they going to fire me for asking a question? That is all that I did. I approached Mr. Rand and said, “Why?” Why did you get the white guys to drive and the colored people to lift? “This is not a paper job! To be honest, anyone can drive a truck. How is it that you have all white drivers and all colored as lifters?” “Take it to the union,” he instructed me. That is, after all, what I did! Now they are attempting to create this pack of lies” (Wilson 3).
Troy is somehow denied the freedom of autonomy as he is threatened to be fired from work if he becomes inquisitive. According to Sniderman and Thomas, the desire for autonomy is a significant determinant of racial identity (17). Thus, Troy faces the possibility of losing his job for trying to champion black rights at work.
Troy Maxson acts as a bridge between the Maxson family’s history in the southern United States and the repercussions of slavery on African-Americans. Troy’s background is defined by the contrast between the north and the South. This contradiction acts as a border between him and his children, Cory and Lyons, who grew up believing they could achieve their goals despite irrational constraints. Troy does not assist his son in fulfilling his dream to play college football in order to spare him from suffering a similar heartbreak; this only serves to further isolate Cory from him. The comment from Troy reflects his position:
“I told that boy about that football stuff. The white man is not going to let him get nowhere with that football. I told him when he first came to me with it. Now you come telling me he went and got more tied up in it. He ought to go and get recruited in how to fix cars or something where he can make a living” (Wilson 8).
He is pessimistic and appears to be in denial, worried that his son would face the same disappointment he did as a boy, depriving him of his ambition of becoming a professional football player.
The significance of the fence and the play’s depiction of a black society characterized in many ways by tyranny are a caustic denunciation of the divide and agony caused by white supremacy. Fences offers a physical reality to the conceptual mechanics of racial prejudice and white authority. It depicts the anguish of the desires and chances denied to the black population in reality. However, the United States has yet to recompense descendants of enslaved and oppressed Black Americans for their work. Neither has the national government made up for the lost equity due to anti-Black housing, transit, and economic policies (Ray and Andre 2). Slavery, anti-Black tactics, such as redlining, and other discriminating state laws in criminal law and education have deprived Black Americans of the opportunity to accumulate wealth.
Not only do discrepancies in racial wealth expose flaws in the American Dream, but the social and financial ramifications are considerable and far-reaching. Better physical, academic, and economic results are all associated with wealth. Moreover, such assets as houses, stocks, commodities, and retirement funds provide a monetary security net for the unavoidable economic and personal financial shocks that occur during a person’s life. Discrepancies in economic policy and variations in inaccessibility to health care render Black people more exposed to unfavorable outcomes than white people.
Accordingly, Wilson’s drama, in part, is concerned with illustrating how racism regulates and shapes the daily lives of its actors. Thus, it reveals the actual experiences of consequences on several black American communities of the 1950s in general. In the United States during the 1930s, two specific New Deal measures failed in redressing American racial wrongdoings—the Social Security and G.I. Bill (Ray and Andre 3). Despite the fact that both black Americans and white served in World War II, black soldiers were unable to use their post-war entitlements in the same way that white veterans could. Although the G.I. Bill was authorized at the federal level, it was administered at the municipal level. The prevalence of racial housing restrictions and redlining in local communities made it impossible for Blacks to get federal subsidies. White troops were given the opportunity to accumulate riches by attending college and securing small business grants and housing for themselves and their offspring.
In terms of Social Security, two significant occupations that might have enhanced fairness in America were omitted from the legislation: domestic and farm employees. These exclusions essentially eliminated 60 % of Blacks in the United States and 75 % in southern regions who operated in these fields (Ray and Andre 3). Roosevelt negotiated these discriminatory clauses in order to drive primarily white America out of the Great Depression. A huge percentage of black Americans plainly experience a feeling of racial identity when measured by the metric of believing that their destiny is tied to the plight of fellow blacks. Roughly three of them believe that what occurred to black Americans in the nation as a whole had an impact on their lives in some way (Sniderman and Piazza 15). The majority of them feel it is now having a significant impact on their life.
Other policies and behaviors have made a significant contribution to racial wealth inequality. Government-sanctioned discrimination, such as the restrictive covenants, 1862 Homestead Act, convict leasing, and redlining prevented blacks from accumulating wealth at whites’ rates (Ray and Andre 3). Apart from slavery, reparations should be paid to black individuals affected by these laws and actions. Enslaved blacks were assigned a monetary value according to their productivity and the magnitude of the racial and economic divide. Other communities have received compensation, whereas the federal government has withheld reparations for African Americans.
The United States government owes lost income and damages to the persons it assisted in enslaving. In addition to lost income, individuals’ total amount of reparations should address the present racial wealth disparity. According to the Federal Reserve data from 2016, white households had the greatest median family income at $171,000, compared to Black and Hispanic households, who had $17,600 and $20,700, correspondingly (Ray and Andre 4). These disparities in financial position demonstrate an unfair allocation of wealth, particularly among minority groups.
Student loan debt remains a substantial impediment to the accumulation of wealth among African-American college graduates. In the 25-55 age group, around 40% of Blacks and 30% of whites have loan debt, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics (Ray and Andre 4). In addition, blacks owe about $45,000 in student loan debt, compared to around $30,000 for whites (Ray and Andre 4). According to a recent study, Blacks are more likely than whites to be awarded unsubsidized student loans (Ray and Andre 4). According to the National Association of Colleges and Universities, graduates of historically black universities and colleges are more likely to acquire subprime loans with increased interest rates than graduates of mostly white institutions (Ray and Andre 4). It is clear that loans have been unfairly distributed, especially among minority groups, as seen by these differences in financial allocation between black colleges and whites.
Ultimately, August Wilson’s Fences demonstrates the negative effects of racism and discrimination on the well-being of racial minority groups through the many characters in the play. The play Fences is set in the 1950s, when substantial progress had been made in race relations, such as the implementation of professional sports organizations. All of the players in the drama are African Americans who encounter discrimination on a daily basis. The South is still formally divided, but a large portion of the Northern territory is unofficially divided. Notably, the story occurs prior to the 1960s Civil Rights Revolution. The fence built by Troy represents the geographical effects of racial discrimination in general: black isolation and the formation of racial insularity in specific neighborhoods. It is a monument to the underlying societal division caused by white political and economic dominance.
Works Cited
Ray, Rashawn, and Perry Andre. “Why We Need Reparations for Black Americans.” Brookings, 2020, pp. 1-6. Web.
Sniderman, Paul M., and Thomas Piazza. Black Pride and Black Prejudice. Princeton University Press, 2021.
Wilson, August. Fences. Theatre Communications Group, 2007.