Who’s Betraying Who?

 Throughout Native Son, there’s a consistent theme of racial comradery and betrayal:

·         Bledsoe has betrayed his race by “selling-out”

Whether Bledsoe is a sell-out was a highly debated topic, however there is no doubt that he is no longer concerned with the needs or priorities of other black people. When talking to the Narrator he says, “I’ll have every Negro in the country hanging on tree limbs by morning if it means staying where I am” (143). His status and power are far more important to him than any broader racial change he could be making. As a black person in a position of power, one would expect him to devote his resources towards helping other black people to gain their own status and power. However, he is too focused on his own personal goals, therefore “betraying” his race.  

·         Brockway believes the black men at the paint factory are betraying the white men who gave them their jobs by joining a union

Brockway is one of our first examples of a black character’s allegiance to white people over black people. In other characters, such as the narrator, we see what is considered a betrayal of their race.  But Brockway believes the black characters in the book are betraying white men. He tells the narrator, “Them young colored fellers up in the lab is trying to join that outfit, that’s what! Here the white man done give ‘em jobs… and they so ungrateful they goes and joins up with that backbiting union! I never seen such a no-good ungrateful bunch. All they doing is making things bad for the rest of us!” (228). While it may be our inclination to celebrate unions and view them as positive, Brockway sees them as a form of betrayal.

·         The men at the bar in chapter 21 think the narrator is betraying his race by continuing work with the Brotherhood

When the Narrator returns to Harlem from his brief exile, he comes back to a very different city. When he enters a bar frequented by members of the Brotherhood, two men start to heckle him. The Brotherhood has stopped their work in Harlem, and the men see the Narrator as not working towards black causes. Barrelhouse tries to quiet them saying, “This here man’s done more for the community than you’ll ever do.” The man refutes, “What community… I hear he got the white fever and left…” (425). These men cite the narrator’s abandonment of his work in Harlem (work with the black community) and his continued allegiance with the Brotherhood as proof of his betrayal to his race.

·         The narrator thinks Clifton is betraying his race by selling the Sambo dolls

The Sambo dolls represent another exaggerated and racist portrayal of black men in the novel. Our first experience with this was the Jolly N****r Bank. The narrator gets upset by these objects as they are harmful caricatures of black people. Seeing Clifton, a man he very clearly respects, selling these objects to a crowd of white men and women is unbelievable. He tells us, “for a second our eyes met… I felt betrayed” (433). The narrator sees these dolls as inherently ant-brotherhood, saying only there “could we avoid being empty Sambo dolls” (434). Not only has Clifton abandoned the Brotherhood’s plan to better the lives of the black folks in Harlem, but he’s gone so far in the opposite direction, trying to sell racist caricatures to white people. To the narrator, this is the ultimate betrayal.

·         The Brotherhood has betrayed both the narrator and the black people of Harlem

In the time that the Narrator has been gone, the Harlem branch of the Brotherhood appears to have fallen apart. During the conversation with the barkeep, we learn: “Lots of folks who got jobs through you people have lost them”. When the narrator asks why, the barkeep responds with “Sure they was—as long as you people was fighting for ‘em. But the minute y’all stopped, they started throwing folks out on the street” (426). Clearly the Brotherhood has been unable to maintain their services and it’s heavily affecting the people of Harlem. Many black people have lost jobs, and as he walks through the city, the narrator notes, “I saw not a single sign of Brotherhood activity” (427). The Brotherhood appears to have given up trying to help the black people in Harlem. They have betrayed the very people they promised to protect.

 

Again and again we see lines drawn of who should be in allegiance with whom. Most of the time these allegiances are divided by races and going against people’s ideas of who you should side with, resulting in feelings of betrayal. I think the idea of racial comradery, especially among the black characters in the book, is one of utmost importance. The narrator has transitioned from siding only with white characters to now working to help black characters. Despite this transition, many people in the novel still say he’s betraying his race for not doing enough. Does this mean the narrator still has further to go on his journey of racial radicalization, or will his actions never be enough to satisfy everyone?