Structural Racism In Novel ‘The Nickel Boys’ By Colson Whitehead (2019)

Abstract

This article discusses the novel The Nickel Boys (2019) by Colson Whitehead. It explores the various forms, causes, and effects of structural racism experienced by African-American characters during the Jim Crow era. This research uses Critical Race Theory (CRT) by Delgado & Stefancic, especially structural racism, as a theoretical framework that refers to the concept of systemic racism by applying descriptive qualitative methods, with data taken from the interpretation of sentences or phrases and context to dissect the contents of the novel. The findings of the analysis are that structural racism can occur in various forms: disparities in education, economic and social class gaps and physical attacks. Some causes of structural racism also found such as: Historical experience, cultural stereotypes and social justice and law. Which resulted in several effects including: physical and mental impact, race discrimination, racial oppression in the Jim Crow era could occur due to social construction factors and with the intervention of institutions, governments and law enforcement officers that were not conducive to running properly which resulted in injustice to African-Americans.