Racism and Oppression in "Ragtime"

Paper Summary:

In the turn-of-the-century era depicted in the novel, "Ragtime", by E.L. Doctorow, racism and oppression of lower social classes dominates social realities in the city of New York. This paper explores racial and social inequality through specific examples from the story. It explores the various characters and their relation to the themes of racism and oppression.

From the Paper:

"Father also shows his racist mentality when first confronted with Coalhaouse Walker. In contrast to Mother, who believes she is complementing Coalhouse when she sees him as different than other Negroes, Father thinks he has "no awareness of his race or his place in society." Father viewed Coalhouse's proud character almost as a form of disrespect towards the white majority and he was perplexed by the idea why a Negro would be proud, "apparently it didn't occur to him to integrate himself into the fashion of his race.""

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