These 5 novels about racial prejudice in America address a longstanding issue and problem.
1. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
“The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.”
2. The Courage of Others by James Hitt
“Texas, 1919. In the face of tragedy, Davy Stoneman learns that the true nature of each person is deeper than one’s skin, that depravity can reshape a soul into something ugly and mean and destructive, and that the courage to confront such depravity, no what matter the cost, is often learned through the ‘courage of others’.”
3. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
“The nameless narrator of the novel describes growing up in a black community in the South, attending a Negro college from which he is expelled, moving to New York and becoming the chief spokesman of the Harlem branch of ‘the Brotherhood’, and retreating amid violence and confusion to the basement lair of the Invisible Man he imagines himself to be.”
4. Beloved by Toni Morrison
“Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby.”
5. Native Son by Richard Wright
“Native Son tells the story of this young black man caught in a downward spiral after he kills a young white woman in a brief moment of panic.”
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