The present study is an attempt to fill this gap. Read moreĭespite the abundance of the critical analysis Ellison's classic novel Invisible Man (1952) has received, critics, it seems to me, have often ignored the intersections between its genre(s) and thematic concerns. A darkened nation would present incontrovertible evidence that sheer animal sex was governing the American destiny and that the great experiment in the wilderness had failed to maintain the social and personal restraints which were the hallmarks and the very stuff of civilization. Perhaps the real reasons for this expectation lay in the hopes that white men had invested in America. The problem becomes, then, one of inquiring why Americans adhered, and in many quarters still adhere, to this belief. and a half later, emancipation has actually lessened the rate of intermixture. What is arresting about this opinion is that no one attempted to give reasons why such a development was inevitable and that there were in fact no good reasons. This chapter discusses one of the most interesting and revealing aspects of American attitudes-the nearly universal belief that emancipation of Negroes from slavery would inevitably lead to increased racial intermixture.
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