Black vs White 4

Foreshadowing the dispute between Ras and the Brotherhood  in his earlier speech, the invisible man describes the conflict simply as “men walking down opposite sides of the street”; where once shots are fired the men begin to “fight among [themselves]” when in reality there is a “third party” “scoundrel running down the middle” shooting. Bringing to question, who is the real “scoundrel”?

Thus far in the novel the invisible man has assumed that the enemy was everyone who was against his brotherhood; bringing to question what brotherhood should the invisible man belong to and what is a true brother? In knowing who his brother is the invisible man will be able to determine who is against him. Ras defines a brother as someone of “same color”. This simple proclamation goes against the brotherhood that the invisible man currently belongs to. The “brotherhood” defines a brother as someone who shares in the same views. This definition immediately creates irony because the “brotherhood” changes the views of new members to match their own. By changing the view of its members the Brotherhood is turning “black against black”, it is turning men who are fighting for the same cause against one another. Ras points this idea out to the invisible man by describing him as a “black mahn” who denies his own people and denies “his own mama”. Ras shows the invisible man that the “third party” is the “white enslaver” by saying that white people “don’t have to be allies with no black people. They get what they wahnt, they turn against you”. He uses this to explain that this is a movement for black freedom; the whites already have their freedom in society, and the only reason for them to join the black journey towards freedom is to destroy it.

The invisible man believes that Ras is trying to corrupt him through these examples when in reality Ras is trying to awaken him. Ras had given himself the name of Ras the Exhorter for the particular reason that to exhort means to give advice or to give warnings. He is trying to warn the invisible man of the “corrupt ideology” found in the brotherhood. He is trying to show the invisible man that through his journey for self-acceptance and freedom he has gone back instead of forward. He is “a black traitor to the black people” and has fallen for the traps of the white society. In order for the Invisible man to achieve self-acceptance and freedom he needs to realize his “black duty” and accept his heritage instead of trying to cover it up in white poison.