Monica QuizhpiProfessor Michael CrourlerEnglish 150 May 2, 2014Research PaperCrisis of African-American IndividualityIdentity is the conception and expression of the individuality of a person. This is who he or she is. This is basically what sets it apart from the rest. A person's identity is constructed on the basis of their experiences and external influences. Ralph Ellison, in his novel titled Invisible Man, discusses the identity struggles that an African American man faces due to the racial prejudice he is subjected to in American society. In fact, the novel was published in 1952, a time when African Americans had few rights. Because of the few rights African Americans had in American society, they were an easy target for the white community to denigrate and discriminate against. The white community humiliated, mortified, and physically abused African Americans, causing the black community to be seen as "unknown" in society. In Invisible Man, Ellison describes racial labels as a barrier to an individual's identity. Ellison states that racism is a tool of oppression used by individuals to diminish or denigrate a group of people in society. A group of people can be discriminated against based on their gender, color, religion, ethnicity and beliefs. In Sandler's study, he claims that 88 percent of African Americans in the United States experience social and economic discrimination (Sandler). In the United States of America, African Americans are considered a minority due to their low social status in society. The protagonist of Invisible Man faces many identity difficulties due to racial prejudice. He is an African-American who relies on others to tell him what to do, instead of doing his own...... middle of paper ....... Those who opposed these scandalous classifications have been called ignorant. . Society gave African Americans no alternative but to accept the social discourse imposed on them, otherwise they were classified as crazy. Andrew Heberek discusses the psychological and emotional problems that African Americans face in society due to social comments. Some of the problems Heberek discusses are the lack of individualism among African Americans. Mozora Sandler and David Briggs included in their study the percentage of African-Americans who are victims of discrimination in American society. Both Marjorie Pryse and Michael Hardin incorporate the inner struggles that African Americans face in society and how their identities have been altered. Overall, the social discourse that American society imposes on the minority has led the majority of African Americans to be invisible..