<Tab/>Ralph Ellison in his essay, "An Extravagance of Laughter" demonstrated the living condition of black life in the segregated 1930's. Ellison grew up in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Unfortunately, His father past away when he was only three. He lived with his mother and brother in absolute poverty, but always believe that he could overcome the limits of racial prejudice. Throughout the years, Ellison fell in love with Africa-American music (Jazz). …showed first 75 words of 1219 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1219 total…its arrays of survival strategies warned me against an overvaluation of white pretensions. And despite their dominance and low opinion of Negro intelligence, white suspected the presence of profound reservations even when Negroes were far less assertive than they are today" (Ellison 160). Throughout this essay, It's clear that racism played a big part throughout society. The above statement mentioned how whites were looking down at Negroes. Even with their greatest efforts, Negroes were still underestimated.