268 Vol. 22 No. 2, October 2022, pp. 268 – 279 DOI: 10.24071/joll.v22i2.3489 Available at https://e-journal.usd.ac.id/index.php/JOLL/index This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Maintaining Ideology through Racial Distinction during the 1930s America in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man Raisa Hani Tamara & Achmad Munjid raisa.hani.tamara@mail.ugm.ac.id & munjid@ugm.ac.id American Studies Master’s Program, Universitas Gadjah Mada, INDONESIA Abstract Article information Racial issues in 1930s America illustrate the high racial tension between Whites and African-Americans due to the series of mass racial violence. Despite the rapid industrialization, African-Americans, in this period, struggled to find their equal place in society. Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man depicts the social conditions of African-American workers’ socio-economic backwardness in the 1930s. This novel is set during the post-reconstruction era of America, where Jim Crow laws were instituted. Therefore, the analysis of racial distinction in this novel is conducted using Post-Nationalist American Studies and Marxism approach. Therefore, this qualitative research utilizes Althusser’s theories: of Ideology and Ideological State Apparatus (ISA). The findings show how White ideology is depicted and maintained: (1) the depiction of Ideology can be seen through the class distinction and racial dependency in which African-Americans are created to be inferior and submissive to White people. Then, (2) the maintenance of ideology relies on Althusser’s concept of Ideological State Apparatuses, such as religious, family, education, legal, politic, trade union, communication, and cultural institutions, function as an adjunct of the state that perpetuates and preserves White-centered values. Thus, the racially segregated society essentially only supports the needs of White capitalists as the ruling class. Keywords: racism; Marxism; ideology; 1930s America; Ideological State Apparatus Received: 17 August 2021 Revised: 23 June 2022 Accepted: 28 June 2022 Introduction The aftermath of the Civil War had provoked racial integration in postbellum society, which the intense pro-slavery idea had constantly challenged. Despite many attempts to establish a congruent blended community, the vast majority of White people in the South refused the integration of the Black population due to their status as ex-slaves. For instance, the Tulsa Race Riot in 1921, which some scholars believe was the worst incident of https://e-journal.usd.ac.id/index.php/JOLL/index mailto:raisa.hani.tamara@mail.ugm.ac.id Journal of Language and Literature Vol. 22 No. 2 – October 2022 ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) 269 racial violence in American history (Ellsworth, 2009). These forms of violence symbolize the failed attempt at racial reintegration between both societies, Black and White. This is a racial period then continued in 1930s America. Indeed, the look of 1930s America was still pictured with racial discrimination and violence in which many lynchings and other forms of violence in the South consistently occurred. However, despite this racial violence toward many African-Americans, some Black societies began to develop and flourish. In New York, the emergence of the Harlem Renaissance or also known as the ‘New Negro Movement.’ It is considered a rebirth of the African-American arts because it contributed to the modern African-American culture at that time, such as music, art, literature, dance, fashion, theatre, and many more (Kuenz, 2007). Besides arts, many Black intellectuals were also born to establish a political and educational movement such as the NAACP (The National Association for The Advancement of Colored People). Later it became the foundation of the Civil Rights Movement (Sullivan, 2009). However, despite this improvement in their societal life, the socio-economic discrepancy between Black and White communities was high, which later manifested into social class formation based on race. Invisible Man, written by an African- American author, Ralph Ellison, shows the real social struggle of African-American people in 1930s America. It tells a story of a nameless young Black man who lives in the 1930s American segregated society. He is expelled from his campus and lives in New York as a menial worker for White people. This novel gained massive success by making it into numerous “best novel” lists and earning the National Book Award for Fiction. Ralph Ellison’s personal experience of racism in North and South America inspired him to write this novel (Smedley, 2017). Ellison also used this novel as a springboard to discuss the most crucial issue: morality in literature, the breakdown of the Communist Party, and the Civil Rights Movement. Therefore, Invisible Man gives a clear and vivid situation of African- American people during the racial discrimination and even political climates during the middle of the 1930s. In conducting an in-depth analysis, this research utilizes Althusser’s concept of ideology, especially Ideological States Apparatuses, within the scope of Marxism and the Post-Nationalist American Studies paradigm. This research dives deep into racial distinction in 1930s America, which lies in White people over African-American communities. It focuses on the functions of Ideological State Apparatuses in maintaining racial distinction as an elaborated discussion. This research answers two main important questions of “how the ideology is depicted” and “how Ideological State Apparatuses function in maintaining it”. This research works under the Post- Nationalist American Studies that concerning the challenges to the study in America becomes coherent with the “nation-states” that can give impact to the cultural studies on American Studies and related area, Ethnic, Women’s, and Gender Studies (Rowe, 2000, p. 26). It means that American Studies see the minority group instead of majority-White male Americans as the research object. This perspective shifts away from White-centered ideas in modern American society, which involve discussing race, minority, and women’s roles. Meanwhile, this research will use Marxism as the approach that provides the idea that literary works are not just personal works (Castle, 2007, p. 108). Thus, this research utilizes two important concepts of Althusser’s view, which are ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses. Althusser’s ideology represents individuals’ imaginary relationship with their real condition of existence (Castle, 2007, p. 112). It is how a person sees the construction of the society that they got using ideology. Ideology, in this case, does not have ‘an ideal, idea-dependent, or spiritual existence, but a material one,’ for ‘an ideology always exists in an apparatus (Althusser, 2014, p. 184). Based on this statement, Althusser insists on the idea that ideology is not something invisible or spiritual. In other words, he asserts ideology as false consciousness that is an imaginary construction. Journal of Language and Literature ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) Raisa Hani Tamara & Achmad Munjid 270 Moreover, Althusser proposes the idea of interpellation, which is the process where a specific ideology comes into someone’s perspective (Althusser, On the reproduction of capitalism: Ideology and ideological state apparatuses, 2014, p. 264). Later the ideology becomes the belief and the value that the subjected use to interpret their reality. Ideology is not just getting in when the subjected realizes it, but it is already there since the beginning of their life. It means that an individual is already abstract or more like an empty slate that is still clear. However, by the time they introduce to the world, they become always ready, which means that they already have an ideology and accept ideology. In other words, the dominant class controls the workforce using ideology to keep production excellent and efficient. Ideology needs to be materialized to increase its efficiency toward those subjected to it. Thus, the interpellation of ideology in a specific society with more than one class needs to use the dominant ideology to create order in society and a way for the dominant classes to hold production within the state. Furthermore, Ideological State Apparatuses focus on how the ideology is subjected to the proletariat class. It functions to ensure the reproduction, as such, of the relations of production, behind the shield’ of the Repressive State Apparatus (Althusser, On the reproduction of capitalism: Ideology and ideological state apparatuses, 2014, p. 80). It is here that the State Ideology comes significantly into play, the ideology of the dominant class holding state power. It is used by the political leaders of the dominant classes holding state power; the Ideological State Apparatuses are various, distinct, relatively independent, and prone to providing an evaluative field for contradictions (Althusser, 2014, p. 174). It means that ISA covers many aspects of society’s life, including religion, education, family, legal system, political system, the trade-union system, communication, and culture (Althusser, 1971, p. 144). Methodology This qualitative research “explores and understands the meaning individuals or groups ascribe to a social or human problem” (Creswell, 2009, p. 209). The process of this research involves emerging questions and procedures. The data analysis inductively builds from particulars to general themes, and the researcher interprets the meaning of the data. Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man is used as data interpreted based on the researcher’s understanding, supported by relevant theory and evidence in this research, to complete this research. Thus, the collected and interpreted data give information about ideology and the way it is maintained. Results and Discussion Invisible Man depicts the struggle of African-Americans in 1930s America, where the infamous Jim Crow laws exist. Therefore, to elaborate and analyze the ideology within the narrative, the discussion of this research is divided into two subchapters: the visible ideology and its maintenance. The Visible Ideology in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man In this novel, the way ideology function is to separate classes into a certain level to work simultaneously without resisting. Therefore, to elaborate on the ideology within the novel, Althusser’s concept of ideology will be used to analyze two important points regarding the ideology, which can be seen in the form of visible ideology and its maintenance. Class Distinction in Invisible Man The class distinction in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man can be seen in the society that the main character lives throughout the story, in which he lives in Alabama as a college student and then moves to New York. In the 1930s, American society in the North and South underwent many social issues primarily centered on racial discrimination and violence. Regarding the class distinction, this discussion is divided into two critical ideas: the image of White people and African-Americans in this novel. The class distinction can be seen through the image of White people in society. In the Journal of Language and Literature Vol. 22 No. 2 – October 2022 ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) 271 1930s, in American society, both in the North and South, White people are often defined by African-American communities as wealthy and prosperous people. At the beginning of the story, the main character is tasked to escort Mr. Norton, an honorable guest, during Founders’ Day on his campus. In doing so, the main character seems to express his admiration for that wealthy White community (Ellison, 1952, p. 23). It resembles the African- American admiration towards White people as a majority that has financially superior compared to most of the African-American communities on his campus. Therefore, it asserts the White socio-economic superiority long established and maintained in segregated 1930s America. In other words, this admiration implicitly evokes the disparity between Black and White society, which puts them in an imbalanced position; the superior White and the inferior Black people. On the other hand, African-American people were mainly socio-economically backward. Black workers, especially, mostly received lower income than Whites since they were not protected by anti-discrimination laws (White, 2016). As a result, they struggled to find proper apartments since they simply could not afford sustainable jobs due to discriminative policies regarding racial segregation. Therefore, the upper-class people in the 1930s began to enforce harsher rules for their tenants, including eviction of African- American tenants who could not afford to pay their rent or due to other racially biased purposes. This eviction provoked confrontations between police and neighborhood residents which once involved three thousand people (Naison, 2021). As a result of the financial crisis, they primarily began to live in ghettos, which are known for inadequate living conditions, such as a high crime rate and gang violence. Notably, this eviction seems to have a racial purpose beyond the legal reason since this family presumes that White people from the bank who coercively force them to leave are just simply racist (Ellison, 1952, p. 147). This act shows how the stereotype of African- Americans as a proletarian class and White people as bourgeoisie has already been embedded in the society, which drives both communities to condemn each other, especially during this financial crisis. In other words, there is a generalization of hatred and stereotypes among both communities, which leads to prejudice toward each other. In this case, his wife considers their eviction part of racial hatred. The bank represents the White ruling power that oppresses and limits the rights of African-Americans as human beings. For them, this eviction is a form of racial maltreatment toward African-American workers, which wealthy White people most marginalized. Therefore, they likely condemn any power abuse from White people toward them in the name of racism. Furthermore, the polarization of class in 1930s America devalues the position of African-American people as “second-class citizens” below their counterparts. The way African-American people see White people and the eviction of African-American tenants can be categorized as evidence that signifies the class distinction between White people as the ruling class and African-American people as the subordinate. These two pieces of evidence illustrate the socio-economic disparity between both communities, which seems to avail the White interests as the majority. This class distinction sparks a social clash within the racially segregated American society, which results in the African-American workers’ resistance in the form of workers’ unions and the dissemination of communism. Moreover, in his journal entitled Can Marxism explain America’s Racism?, Sidney Willhelm evokes the strong relationship between racism and capitalism in America, which shapes the character of American industrial society. Racism, he believes, is “a specific product of capitalism and a universal feature of capitalism” (Willhelm, 1980, p. 98). Therefore, the devaluation of human labor, as is explained above, is needed since it can benefit the superior class/race, “Capitalists need racial inferiority to cheapen the cost of labor. “White employers,” Nearing asserted in 1929, “are taking advantage of the Negroes-using them to force down wages, to break strikes” (1980, p. 98). Journal of Language and Literature ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) Raisa Hani Tamara & Achmad Munjid 272 The racial inferiority complex that resulted from the class distinction within the segregated American society is a pivotal aspect to structurize the society by implementing several capitalist elements such as societal hierarchy, class level, and wealth admiration. Willhelm further concludes, “In short, racism is primarily an effective strategy for capitalists to restrain economic demands from a recalcitrant labor force (1980, p. 98)”. In other words, racism is, indeed, part of a social formation that is created to strengthen the ideology that White people, as the ruling class, build and impose. This socio-economic superiority later develops into an abuse of power by the ruling class since White people often conduct some racial maltreatment toward African-Americans. Althusser’s concept of ideology has strengthened class distinction between African-American and White people in the capitalistic society. African-American people, as a minority, are created to feel inferior to cheapen the cost of labor in the segregated American society. It, therefore, creates a wider gap between the African-American community, which is legally limited and socio- economically backward, and the White wealthy privileged in the societal system. In other words, racism is institutionalized as part of White people’s domination to build a structured societal hierarchy. Thus, by looking at those pieces of evidence of class distinction in 1930s America, White people manage to control the middle-class society by imposing an inferiority complex on them. It is a part of social formation that can establish an order since the bourgeoisie needs the proletariat to be marginalized to maintain profitable income and cheap labor costs. Racial Dependency in Invisible Man In this discussion, the dependent relationship between the White and African- American community relies on two pivotal points; glorification of White’s image and work relationship in the segregated society caused by class distinction. In Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, the illusion of White people’s images as saviors and philanthropy solidifies the societal and work bond between both parties. Therefore, the glorification of White people by African-American people seems to create a dependent relationship between them. For instance, the main character admires the arrival of Mr. Norton at his university as a White philanthropist who helped establish his college. The main character is in the hope of building a good relationship with Mr. Norton, whom he is seen as a strong figure for his future (Ellison, 1952, p. 23). It is a rare opportunity, the man character says, to drive and escort him since many other African- American students want to do it too. The elegancy and influential image of White people have driven many young African-American people to rely on White people to help elevate their future careers. In this case, Mr. Norton is seen by the main character as his future savior since he could help the main character due to his authoritative power. That is why when he was assigned to drive him to the campus, he could not resist. In fact, he is sure that he is in a position that will benefit him as a young African-American student (Ellison, 1952, p. 50). It shows that the glorification of wealthy White people has shaped the understanding of these African-Americans to believe and to further rely on White people’s help to elevate their careers. This inferiority is further seen when the main character is forced to accept the White employers’ authoritative power over him when he joins the paint company “… trained to accept the foolishness of such old men as this, even when you thought them clowns and fools.” (Ellison, 1952, p. 123). These words echo the idea of being submissive toward White people since they do not have enough power to resist White people’s superiority. Thus, the class distinction in the 1930s American society has created the binary superiority-inferiority complex that shapes the societal elements within the society. The inferiority complex that African-Americans experienced as middle and lower class resulted from legal and socio-economic factors during the segregation period that limited them as the second citizen. Notably, in American society, Thomas La Veist says, “African-Americans have higher rates of unemployment, illiteracy, unwed and teen Journal of Language and Literature Vol. 22 No. 2 – October 2022 ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) 273 births, low birth weight, homicide, and infant mortality” (La Veist & Pierre, 2014, p. 41). Therefore, acknowledging White superiority can hopefully elevate their social status. Moreover, the wealthy image of White people tends to attract many young African- Americans to acknowledge their superiority. Thus, as this novel illustrates, social welfare becomes the pivotal aspect that defines African-American’s dependency on White people in 1930s American society. The White employers’ superiority at the workplace can also be seen as indoctrination toward African-American workers to spread White people’s messages when they join the (Communist) Brotherhood. Jesse Wolfe, in his journal entitled “Ambivalent Man”: Ellison’s Rejection of Communism, argues that the concept of the Communist Brotherhood is based on the author’s experience in the post- World War II left-wing movement (Wolfe, 2000, p. 621). It is strongly associated with the idea of Hegelian and Marxism philosophical traditions that he adopted. This Brotherhood embodies “racist” characteristics of American society, which emphasizes the racial separation between White and African- American people. This type of supervision consists of the indoctrination of White people on the inferior African-American workers, which can be divided into two forms: correction and filtering. First, the act of correction toward African-American workers for White people’s needs can be seen when the main character needs to be corrected by his White senior over his speech message and oratory skills (Ellison, 1952, p. 190). It says that African-American members need to be trained to be able to “properly” speak as a member of the Brotherhood. The words “be tamed” seem to emphasize the “uncivilized” image of African- American people due to the substantial class distinction between them and White people in this segregated society. Second, filtering involves limitations to constrain African- American brothers’ behaviors. It can be seen when the main character is told to voice White people’s demands and not to speak up about his own opinion regarding the social issues within the segregated 1930s American society, “We furnish all ideas. We have some acute ones. Ideas are part of our apparatus. Only the correct ideas for the correct occasion.” (Ellison, 1952, p. 252) It shows the topic of African-American freedom of speech which seems to be faded in this particular period since many of them are not allowed to publically speaking. From the 1920s to the 1940s, freedom of speech based on the First Amendment could not be socio-politically applicable to minorities. As Norman Rosenberg says, “The relationship between free speech battles and struggles against hierarchies based upon race, wealth, and gender generally has been seen by radicals, conservatives, and liberals alike as a close one.” (Rosenberg, 1989, p. 332). These aspects (race, wealth, and gender) play an essential role in implementing freedom of speech. Therefore, if such groups do not have at least one of these aspects, their voice or action cannot be heard. For African- Americans, it became the primary constraint to define their equal existence in the segregated 1930s American society. Correcting and filtering are considered censorship because it only benefits White people despite struggling African-American efforts. The Brotherhood is meant to accommodate African-American workers in line with White Communist ideas. In other words, this is a form of imaginary construction to build and structurize the society that the dominant class wants. In this novel, White people, as a bourgeoisie class, tend to impose their ideas that craft the racist society used to maintain their socio-economic advantages. In other words, by using ideology, White people manage to control African-American people in the workforce to keep the production excellent and efficient for them. Ideological Maintenance in Invisible Man The backwardness condition of African- Americans impacted the well-being of the African-American people, which can be seen in the form of class distinction and racial dependency. Therefore, by using Althusser’s concept of Ideological State Apparatus, this Journal of Language and Literature ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) Raisa Hani Tamara & Achmad Munjid 274 chapter explains the ideological maintenance that is happened in the novel Invisible Man. To ease the comprehension, this chapter is divided into eight subchapters according to Althusser’s concept: religious, educational, family, legal, political, Trade Union, communication, and cultural ISA. Religious Ideological State Apparatus The importance of religion in American society can be seen when the main character perceives the White people’s religion as part of their pedagogic aspect (Ellison, 1952, p. 65). These African-American students’ response indicates that interpellation, which is the perception process of ideology, has already existed and been believed. It further perpetuates through religious speech, which is seen in this novel when Father Barbee gives his sermon emphasizing the historical clash between White and African-Americans during Civil War, predominantly based on racist hatred among them (Ellison, 1952, p. 68). It illustrates that racial issue has firmly embedded as part of American social and cultural roots. In a broader perspective, this narration by Father Barbee can be translated as part of the interpellation of ideology since it emphasizes the better living condition of African-Americans, which seems doubtful and ironic due to the post-war creation of Jim Laws. In other words, it is a way to make indoctrinated ideology seem believable for the African-Americans. Therefore, this sermon at the school’s church perpetuates the current backward and left-behind condition of African- American society as ‘acceptable’. Family Ideological State Apparatus The maintenance of ideology that preserves the White domination also exists within the family. Family is part of a social agent that teaches moral lessons in life. In his Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison depicts the Black family's significance in establishing and maintaining White supremacy ideology. Growing up, the main character’s parents told his son (the main character) to accept whatever harsh condition he may face since it is part of the ‘consequence’ of being African- American (Ellison, 1952, p. 11). In the context of pertaining ‘common good’, African- American children are told by their parents or family to have a sense of humility despite living in poverty and under the repression of White people. It is a teaching that projects their submission toward their White oppressor. In terms of racism, the Black family during the segregation was transformed into a fundamental social group that inbreeds the White ideology. Many sociologists argue that the concept of the modern family emerged as a result of industrialization, which is strongly related to “the conception of the “child” as a social category separate from adults, requiring special concern and attention” (Laslett, 1973, p. 481). As further conceptualized by Althusser, the family is also defined as an adjunct of the state because it helps disseminate the ideology established by the state (Elliot, 1989, p. 445). In this case, the correlation between state and family is significantly close since both manufacturers a thought transferred to others. A Marxist- feminist expert, Elizabeth Wilson, further says that the ideology of patriarchy and racism can be implemented through family because it is an adjunct to the state. Althusser views the welfare state, “.. is not just a set of services; it is also a set of ideas, and the ideas it incorporates provide support for a family ideology which operates in a subtle but coercive way to ensure not simply the continuance of things as they are, but women’s acquiescence in their own oppression” (in Elliot, 1989, p. 446). Thus, in the case of racism in 1930s America, the family, as an adjunct of the state, plays a vital role in the rationalization of Jim Crow laws, especially dealing with the 1930s industrial expansion where African-Americans were subjected to be the White people’s workers and creates a ‘mutual’ dependent relationship. It sustains the racial disparity that structures the American social system. As a result, the main character experiences personal ideological ambivalence in which he stands in the in-between zone of wanting one and wanting another (Ellison, 1952, p. 12). This argumentation emphasizes the personal ambivalence of conceptualizing Journal of Language and Literature Vol. 22 No. 2 – October 2022 ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) 275 the truth of the African-American position in the society where the double consciousness emerges. As William Du Bois coined, it is an internal conflict, part of a psychological challenge, experienced by subordinates in an oppressive society (1994, p. 8). Thus, as an adjunct to the state, the family plays a vital role in rationalizing the oppressor’s ideology to the subordinates. Like a religious institution, the family functions as Ideological State Apparatus that favors American industrialist values since it ironically helps the rationalization of Jim Crow laws as a core of the social system. Educational Ideological State Apparatus The importance of an educational institution relies on its essential purpose as a place for knowledge sharing. White ideology lessons and practices exist in society. There are two pivotal points in how the maintenance of White-oriented ideology in educational institutions exists: the lesson and practice. The lesson within the educational institution also emphasizes the preservation of the “status quo”. Father Barbee’s sermon in the school’s church represents the idea that America is a better place than before (antebellum). In his sermon, he perpetuates the image of African-American prosperity and remarkable progress in the society that, indeed, has been falsely used to establish White superiority (Ellison, 1952, p. 65). In a broader perspective, the White-centered lessons within the educational institution only perpetuated and preserved the African- American backwardness in segregated American society. This concept of White- centered teachings in the segregation period is a colonial practice that evokes a double consciousness within young African-American students (Nugroho & Aryani, 2021, p. 125). The school practices also contribute to the dissemination of White ideology. Founder’s Day, the main character’s college arrangement, depicts how much this African-American community values the presence of White people and their historical influence. When the main character missteps his duty as a driver, Mr. Bledsoe scolds him as if he defaces the campus’s reputation, ‘He [Bledsoe] struck his desk “College for Negroes! Boy, what do you know other than how to ruin an institution in half an hour that it took over half a hundred years to build?’ (Ellison, 1952, p. 79) It shows that the behaviors and treatments of African-American people to White people matter since it can hugely affect the reputation of their institution. Bledsoe accuses the main character’s action as a way to endanger the institution developed under the White influence over the ages. African- Americans since they live under an apartheid- like system that devalues their rights. White people have established their position by constructing the racial binary society. As explained in the previous chapter, they are always expected to heighten the White people, which later manifests into admiration and glorification. In other words, this educational institution only produces students with the humility to accept their social position instead of competing with their White counterparts. Thus, this educational institution is tasked with dictating and controlling African- American students. It is an Ideological State Apparatus that acts as an interpellation agent to construct what the upper-class society wants from them. Legal Ideological State Apparatus The maintenance of ideology in legal institutions rests on the existence of Jim Crow laws that legally separate the White and African-American communities in 1930s America. There are two legal institutions that act as Ideological State Apparatuses in maintaining the White ideology. These institutions are related to public services: transportation and hospital. In public transportation, the main character gets on the bus in New York, which is regulated to separate the seats between Black and White passengers. Despite the bus seats being almost empty, he is forced to sit in the back due to his race (Ellison, 1952, p. 84). This racial seating arrangement is part of Jim Crow bus laws that prevent the social integration of Black and White on the bus. Unlike the car that “represented a private transaction that challenged race, technology, Journal of Language and Literature ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) Raisa Hani Tamara & Achmad Munjid 276 and consumerism” (Gordon, 2020, p. 5), public transportation such as trains, streetcars, and buses were hugely organized by the state and local governments. Therefore, the seating regulation implicates the image of governments’ ideology that expects the humility of the inferior African-American people toward their superior. It is a language of racial hierarchy disseminated to strengthen White ideology in the legal area. Then, a medical center or hospital also functions as Legal Ideological State Apparatus that maintains the White ideology. In this novel, when the main character is injured due to an accident involving the boiler machine, he is treated in the hospital. There, he is poorly treated and becomes a part of a medical experiment by applying Gestalt (Ellison, 1952, p. 129). The legal policy in authorizing some procedures for African-American patients is no longer based on humanity but is structured based on the White people’s interests as the ruling class. The scientific abuse implicates the absence of empathy and humanitarianism since everything, including medical procedures, is institutionalized based on racial hierarchy. The ideology is maintained through legal Ideological State Apparatuses such as transportation and hospital. It has the ability to institute inappropriateness and inhuman policy toward African-American patients as the oppressed social group. Thus, there is an act of legalizing discriminative views in social institutions that directly affect the well-being of African-American people as the subordinates of the White dominant society. Political Ideological State Apparatus The political parties in each country control ideology in the political aspects. These political parties are the institution that controls ideology. A political party has the ability to maintain ideology from the member’s recruitment. At this point, his subjectivity to the White ideology is on hold due to mistrust. After the main character’s speech on the African-American eviction, he is invited by a White person to meet in a café because of his skill in speaking and gathering people to follow him (Ellison, 1952, p. 166). Embracing the same idea makes the member exposed to the same ideology. Thus, the political parties are able to maintain ideology by giving a place for people to explore themselves and make them feel useful by seeing their contribution to the parties. The intensity of the ideology gets stronger by having the opposite ideology exposed, followed by the majority member’s reaction toward the opposing ideology. The reaction of the other members of the parties creates the necessity for the member to follow them to prevent exile within the parties. Trade Union Ideological State Apparatus Trade Union ISA is the apparatus of the ideological state that controls ideology in the working places. The first process of interpellation happens at the beginning when the main character is about to enter the paint factory; he sees something, “Ahead of me a huge electric sign announced its message through the drifting strands of fog: KEEP AMERICA PURE WITH LIBERTY PAINTS” (Ellison, 1952, p. 107). The idea of “Keep America Pure” means keeping America just like it used to be, which America is for White people. This sign rhymes with the White ideology all over the place as the way the factory intended to be made by White people and for the White people as the costumers. This statement indicates the White ideology that White people are better at doing their work. It is also the way each employer glorifies the vision of the company to its worker at the same time. The main character’s loyalty to the factory is, without a doubt. This loyalty can also be translated as a language of loyalty toward White people is necessary to improve the African-American people’s life. The union is the worker’s organization that defends the African-American worker so that they will have the same right and the same payment as the White worker. The existence of the organization besides the factory organization strengthening the This union is a threat for the loyal worker like Lucious because it can make him jobless by displeasing the White people or, in this case, the factory higher people. Journal of Language and Literature Vol. 22 No. 2 – October 2022 ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) 277 Communication Ideological State Apparatus The communication ISA maintains ideology through the distribution of information and makes the reader more aware of the current ideology as part of the reality they believe in. There are three ways communication ideological state apparatus operate and maintain ideology: newspaper, dialogue, and letter. First, Communication ISA mentioned in this novel is the newspaper. This is the news after the main character meets a White man in the middle of the night and punches him for insulting him (Ellison, 1952, p. 6). This statement shows how the communication institute reports the condition of the victim of the news based on the victim-witness. Newspaper as the communication Ideological state apparatus further explored where the main character mentions his role in the Brotherhood, the political organization that hired him, as the publisher or spokesperson that makes the Brotherhood famous (Ellison, 1952, p. 206). Another communication ideological state apparatus can be found in the dialogue between characters. It is the confrontation between the main character and Mr. Bledsoe, the principal of the school that the main character attends in the story’s setting (Ellison, 1952, p. 80). Bledsoe, in this act, emphasizes that White people have newspapers, magazines, radios, and spokespeople as the person who will tell their idea. These sentences indicate the process of interpellation in the communication of the Ideological State Apparatus through someone showing the reality that White people control everything in the country. Letters are parts of the Communication Ideological State Apparatus after being used by the White people in the setting of this novel to maintain their ideology in the society when the main character wins the Battle Royal and is expelled to New York (Ellison, 1952, p. 21) (Ellison, 1952, p. 106). These two occasions of receiving letters contain the message of “Keep the Nigger boy running,” which, according to Klotman, is the metaphor for running from the unpleasant reality. It is an adverse, uncontrollable reaction, a metaphorical bullwhip used by others to frighten Invisible Man into an erratic, indiscriminate movement that renders him powerless, without control over himself or his surroundings (Klotman, 1970, p. 278). To conclude, Communication Ideological State Apparatus is the apparatus in the state that controls the state’s information and distributes the state’s ideology along the way. There are three ways of communication ideological state apparatus maintaining ideology, newspaper, dialogue from the higher status person, and letter. Those are used to maintain ideology in the novel by mentioning the main character’s invisibility in public indicates his position in society, which is invisible. Cultural Ideological State Apparatus Cultural Ideological State Apparatus is the apparatus that dominates the society’s culture and interpellated ideology through literature, arts, sports, and many more (Althusser, 1971, p. 144). There are four cultural aspects that are used in the novel to maintain White ideology in the novel: Blues music, dolls, fashion, and sport. Blues music has become essential as the cultural Ideological State Apparatus. It is part of the art created by African-Americans in the late 1860s (Pearley Sr., 2018). This novel's illustration of blues music is often mentioned as part of the African-American music identity at that time (Ellison, 1952, p. 7). The main character expresses his reality which is being invisible, through his admiration of Louis Armstrong’s song, which represents his reality at this moment. Olderman believes that the main character singing his blues song indicates the meaning of himself and his reality (Olderman, 1966, p. 143). The poetry of being invisible illustrates the main character's interpellation process toward the song, making him see his reality of himself and his people as invisible. The second cultural ideological state apparatus is the dolls. The two dolls mentioned in the novel that significantly Journal of Language and Literature ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) Raisa Hani Tamara & Achmad Munjid 278 impact the main character are the Sambo doll (Ellison, 1952, p. 233). This doll outrages the main character because the figure mimicked the African-American people. The dolls are controlled using string, indicating that African- American people are controlled and do not have freedom since it represents the past (slavery). The third is fashion, which sets standards people must follow to join the society (Ellison, 1952, p. 143). Ointments, in the context of this text, are beauty products. This beauty product claims that it could produce the miracle of whitening black skin. This product interpellated White ideology by setting some indicators of how to better society. Those who buy this project hope they will be white so that they will be accepted by society. Since the society in this context is dominated by White people. White people become the set of things that must be followed to reach the American dream. The last is sports which are used as the way White people need entertainment from the Africans (Ellison, 1952, p. 12). Battle Royale is the event in this novel that White people use to treat African-Americans as a prerequisite battle to gain success. They have to literary battle or fight for it. This is also the way White people treat minorities. They treat them like circus animals or as a part of gruesome entertainment. Entertainment like battling for fighting between two things is deemed as okay sometimes. However, the people who participated in this battle were considered a pawn or unimportant moving objects. It means that the African-Americans who experienced this battle are deemed unimportant. Using this battle lowers the African-Americans’ pride as just another folly object of entertainment and restrained human. Conclusion In conclusion, the analysis of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man asserts the systemic racism that devalues the position of African- American people, which are marginalized and exploited by their White counterparts. Thus, the emphasis of this novel is on how this ideology is depicted and maintained. The ideology emphasizes two fundamental points: class distinction and racial dependency. First, dominant ideology separates the dominant class and the minority to create a social, racial, and economic gap between those two. As a result, White people are destined to be the wealthy and ruling class. Second, the class distinction creates a racial dependency between African-American and White people. Both social communities are tied in some economic relationship where the superior White people become “the employers” while African-Americans only become “fatalistic workers.” Therefore, this novel shows how the wealthy white people, as the ruling class, have reshaped and structured the society where their Black counterparts become “the second class citizen. The maintenance of ideology relies on Althusser’s concept of Ideological State Apparatus (ISA), in which social institutions play an essential role in perpetuating the ideology. These apparatuses also are used to isolate and control the subordinates who try to stand up against the ideology. This ideological preservation occurs in almost every fundamental level of the 1930s American society, which includes religious, family, educational, legal, cultural, political, Trade Union, and communication institutions. 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