Andrew Friedman

Battling Invisibility

Over fifty years ago, Ralph Ellison wrote his masterpiece, Invisible Man. The book begins,

I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those that haubted Edgar Allen Poe ... I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids ... I am invisible simply because people refuse to see me.

Today, as we celebrate the life and struggle of Martin Luther King, and the civil rights movement more generally, it is crucial to look both backwards and forwards. We can find inspiration in the courage, insight, and strategic thinking of those who organized and risked their lives to confront the the stinging racism that has afflicted the United States since its founding.

We must also be real about the racial and civil justice struggles that we must wage in the future.

As I re-read Ellison, I was struck by how similar his notion of the crushing invisibility he faced as a black man in mid-century America is to the idea that undocumented immigrants live in the shadows. A key difference, though, is that if you live in the shadows, it is reasonable and understandable why you are unseen. But nobody lives in the shadows. If policians or others are unaware of the humanity, challenges and abuses faced by undocumented workers or children, for example, it is because, as Ellison said, people "refuse to see [them]."

We must make the invisible visible. We must work to welcome the 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States into the political life of our country by passing a comprehensive legalization program.

Beyond the issue of immigration, though, we must work to create a polity that is inclusive of everyone.

To truly honor Martin Luther King, and everyone else, who gave their lives and labor to confront racism in America, we must strive to confront the inequalities that are the manifestations of all of our inability to see.

Andrew Friedman: Author Bio | Other Posts
Posted at 8:55 AM, Jan 15, 2007 in Civil Rights
Permalink | Email to Friend