I found the essay by Ralph Ellison really interesting, as he talked about the difference between the way he was treated in New York and in Alabama. Enjoying a summer in New York, Ellison noticed differences between treatments of African Americans in the North and the South. One of the things he noticed right away was how the buses in New York were free for all passengers to sit where they pleased, while the buses in the South were controlled by the racial social pyramid of sitting the blacks in the back. I have never considered how my daily bus rides would be different if they were affected by racial and social classes. I’m used to everyone being treated equally in New York, so it’s hard to imagine the bus driver forcing certain people to sit somewhere. Even the subway scuffle that Ellison witnessed wouldn’t invoke a sense of racial tension in me, while Ellison was surprised that there was no race riot after an African American man and a white woman competed for a seat.
The thing I liked most about the essay was how Ellison described the way that people are perceived in New York. Ellison said that in New York, people perceive you the way you present yourself. I think that this is definitely true and is one of the magical things about New York. Just like Ellison got more respect out of New Yorkers if he presented himself as a fellow New Yorker, I think that a person in New York will get more respect and liking if they exercise their freedoms and present themselves with a sense of confidence and authority. That is one of the wonders of New York.
