Question

Which of the following characters

most plausibly symbolizes the

struggle to create a new identity that African Americans faced before and during the civil rights era?


A. Peter, a wrongly convicted man who tries to convince people that he’s innocent.


B. Margaret, a single mother who is expected to work two jobs at the same time.


C. Warren, a deceptive con artist who lives up to his reputation as a crook.


D. Theresa, a new lawyer attempting to thrive in a firm that is run entirely by men​.

Answer 1

Peter, the wrongly convicted man, best symbolizes the African American struggle to create a new identity, paralleling their historical fight against racial stereotypes and for recognition.

Step-by-step explanation:

The character that most plausibly symbolizes the struggle to create a new identity that African Americans faced before and during the civil rights era is A. Peter, a wrongly convicted man who tries to convince people that he's innocent. This character's effort to redefine himself and prove his innocence parallels the African American experience of challenging prevailing stereotypes and fighting for legal and social recognition. Peter's plight reflects the historical efforts of African Americans who contested institutionalized racism and sought to establish a self-determined identity amidst a society that often judged them unjustly.

Answer 2

Theresa, a new lawyer in a male-dominated firm, best symbolizes the struggle to create a new identity faced by African Americans, reflecting their fight for equality and recognition amidst a society that undervalued them due to historical stereotypes.

Step-by-step explanation:

Among the characters presented, Theresa, a new lawyer attempting to thrive in a firm that is run entirely by men, most plausibly symbolizes the struggle to create a new identity that African Americans faced before and during the civil rights era. Her situation echoes the challenges African Americans faced in asserting their competence and worth within structures that systematically undervalued them. Theresa's quest to prove herself in a male-dominated workplace parallels the fight of African Americans to be recognized as equals and break through the stereotypes that Lisa E. Farrington references, which have historically portrayed African men as brutish and African women as lewd, leading to systemic discrimination and injustice.

African American leaders like Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, and Martin Luther King, Jr. fought against these stereotypes and championed a new self-determination and identity for their communities. They took on the responsibility to speak truth to power and to interrogate societal norms that Vincent Lloyd points out were necessary for the success of the civil rights movement. This fight opened up spaces for African Americans to establish new identities beyond the limited characterizations that had been imposed on them.

Just as Theresa navigates her path through an environment not built for her success, historical African American activists pushed against the boundaries of a society that had placed restrictions on them based on race. Both scenarios highlight the broader struggle for equality and recognition faced by marginalized groups.