Lifting or Lowering the Veil of Ignorance?

We did discuss Question 10 from the Invisible Man Socratic Seminar questions in class, but not for very long. The statue of the Founding Father at the narrator's college raises some questions for some people. Is "the veil...really being lifted, or lowered more firmly in place?" Is the narrator "witnessing a revelation or a more efficient binding?" I think that the concept of the statue actually not only ties into the novel but also into the "real world."

I believe that the veil was actually being lowered more firmly in place. I did some research on the statue and it was a monument of Booker T. Washington lifting the veil of ignorance off a scared slave. Apparently, the statue has a lot of controversy with it, not just in Ellison's book. Maybe the sculptor actually meant for the veil to be lifted in a "revelation", but it provokes a real point about the veil actually being place more firmly in place. I think the college in the book had the statue because to them, the man was not removing the veil. Throughout Invisible Man, the narrator tries and tries again to lift that veil. Through the Brotherhood, his speeches, and his actions, he tries to see and reveal the truth about racial equality. In the end, though, he goes underground, unable to see through the "veil." The Brotherhood and other white people in the novel lie to the narrator constantly, making him believe his "veil" is being lifted. They almost convince him that he is doing good for African Americans, except that it was all just a fairytale that wasn't real. Truly, the others are blinding the narrator to the truth and they are just reinforcing the idea of racial segregation.

The concept of the veil can be related to discrimination during any time period, including now. There is a lot of discrimination in the world still and, though some problems have been made better, most still exist inside of people's heads. I hear things all of the time in the media about how everybody is getting along more and how there is less hate towards different minorities. In all of the new books and on all of the new television shows, kids who belong to different cliques, have different preferences, and look different are all always best friends. The books and shows might be trying to help make America more like that, but it puts the idea in some people's heads that we've solved our problems and that there is nothing to worry about. In my opinion, the media is not lifting a veil from our faces about discrimination, but rather it is placing one over us. If someone sees or reads about all the problems being solved, I don't think they will be motivated to go out and try to solve ones themselves. I think they will just assume someone else is working on it and that the problem is solved, when in fact it is not.