Campaign for the American Reader: Index: structural racism in fiction

NOTE: updated March 21, 2007

Back in April 2006 I issued a call for fiction that might help us better understand "structural racism."

The scholar (and Friend of the Blog) Andrew Grant-Thomas first introduced the subject to me, and here he offers a working definition of structural racism.

A number of informed thinkers suggested works of fiction (and other writings) that capture the dynamic described by Grant-Thomas, and I hope to gather more recommendations.

Do you know a good work of fiction that depicts structural racism? Let me know the title--along with an explanation for why it applies--and I may add it to the list. Send your suggestion to bolling [dot] binx [at] gmail [dot] com.

By author and title:

Alexie, Sherman. The Toughest Indian in the World
Alvarez, Julia. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents
Baldwin, James [1], [2]
Barnes, Julian. Arthur & George
Beatty, Paul. Tuff
Beatty, Paul. White Boy Shuffle
Bullins, Ed
Chesnutt, Charles. The House Behind the Cedars
Chesnutt, Charles. The Marrow of Tradition
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man [1], [2] [3]
Gaines, Ernest
Himes, Chester. If He Hollers Let Him Go
Hopkinson, Nalo. Brown Girl in the Ring
Hurston, Zora Neale. Seraph on the Suwanee
Johnson, James Weldon. The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
Johnson, Mat. Drop
Johnson, Mat. Hunting in Harlem
Jones, Gayl. Eva's Man
Lahiri, Jhumpa. Interpreter of Maladies
Lee, Andrea. Sarah Phillips
Marshall, Paule. Brown Girl, Brownstones
Morrison, Toni. Beloved
Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye
Mosley, Walter
Paredes, Américo. George Washington Gomez
Petry, Ann. The Street
Randall, Alice. The Wind Done Gone
Rodriguez, Luis. Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A.
Ruiz, Mona. Two Badges: The Lives Of Mona Ruiz
Santiago, Danny. Famous All Over Town
Sembène, Ousmane. God's Bits of Wood
Thomas, Piri. Down These Mean Streets
Twain, Mark. The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson
Walker, Alice. By the Light of My Father's Smile
Ward, Douglas Turner. "Day of Absence"
Williams, John A. The Man Who Cried I Am
Wilson, August
Wright, Richard. Black Boy
Wright, Richard. "Bright and Morning Star"
Wright, Richard. Uncle Tom’s Children