Class Struggles socioeconomic status and American culture
             "Black Like Me" and "The Jungle" both describe the inequities of the unseen caste system in America. In both cases a minority group (blacks, immigrants) are oppressed and mistreated by the white power group, and there is almost no communication between the two groups. The white power group views the minority group with suspicion and hatred, while the minority group views the whites with mistrust and fear. However in black like me the overall message is that of brother hood, as griffin tells the black boy near the conclusion the only cause of racial tension is social conditioning.
             The jungle focuses on the immigrant workers plight, and presents the cruelty of the "robber barons". It shows how the dominant white group oppresses the minority group. While "The Jungle" shares the common thread of oppression because of a lack of communication between the races, its final message is one of equal intolerance. Instead of working to co-exist with their oppressors, they want to take over Chicago's political theater. The book concludes with "Chicago will be ours". This sentiment does nothing to change their situation, but only is a rebellion from a oppressive right wing capitalist system to a fascist corrupt left wing system.
             Black like me is most notably different from the jungle because of the Negro reaction to oppression. In the jungle Jurgis victimizes himself, as does his sister both in the form of substance abuse. But the majority of blacks subscribe to the philosophy of "we shall overcome". Also all blacks did not have the same ideas on the question of race, while it seemed that in "the Jungle" all the workers had the same political stance, especially at the end of the story. "The jungle" proposes a quick overthrow of the workers to power, while "Black Like Me" had the core values of the civil rights movement at its heart. Their rallying cr
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