Racism and Unity in World War II: Analyzing If He Hollers Let Him Go Emma Wynne College

World War II had a profound impact on American culture. Essentially every person in the country was affected in some way, but the war’s impact of African Americans was unique. Although African Americans were indeed Americans they were often treated like the enemy on the home front. Racism ran rampant in American society, even troops abroad were segregated. In some cases, people were able to see past this racism and view the war as a way to unite people to think of the greater good. Others only saw the war as an example of racism. The novel, If He Hollers Let Him Go, by Chester Himes demonstrates this concept. In the story, a black man sees the war as an extension of racism, but is urged by a white man to use the war as a tool to forget hostility in favor of unity. The racial condition of blacks and whites directly affected the ways in which they interpreted the war. Because of his racial condition, the black man is unable to see the war from the white man’s point of view. Contemporary critical analysis of If He Hollers Let Him Go has also made the connection between the character’s racial condition and their perspective on the war. The individual characters in the novel are representative of larger groups. Notable writers in...