Skin Color and Freedom

The shame that blacks experienced for living in America could not be more apparent in Song of Solomon.  In a discussion between Milkman and Ms. Byrd, it is said that Milkman’s grandmother had been “too dark to pass” (Morrison 292) as a white, and that Susan Byrd “actually blushed [as] though she’d discovered something shameful about him.” This goes to show that blacks would try to pass as whites in order to escape the injustice and cruelty faced by the oppression of white citizens. The fact that these innocent people are being diminished to less of a person due to the color of their skin is truly abhorrent. America is built upon life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; however, when these people have been and are being stripped of their innate rights, these “unalienable” freedoms seem to contradict themselves.

For example, Michael Brown, a black 18-year-old from Missouri, was shot at least 6 times and killed by a white police officer simply because he was accused of robbery. In cases such as this, the robber is typically thrown in jail; but in this case, things escalated pretty quickly. Sources say that Wilson, the police officer, was not charged for murder or anything of the sort because the Department of Justice stated that it was an act of self-defense. Protests sparked throughout the nation, and soon the #blacklivesmatter slogan began to spread in hope for a more civilized and free world. Brown was deprived of the basic rights that America depends upon, displaying the unjustified connection between freedom and skin color.