The book I read was Makes Me Wanna Holler by Nathan McCall (1994). The book is autobiographical and describes Nathan's (Nate) experiences. My initial assumptions were that Nathan probably had a difficult life if the title of the book is Makes Me Wanna Holler. I suppose I figured that he would describe the injustices being an African-American male. As far as my initial assumptions about African-Americans I knew that it was difficult to live in an oppressed culture, but I had no idea that it was as difficult as it is.

In the book oppression is one of the central themes. Nate talks about oppression throughout the book. He begins by talking about his initial contact with white people. He talks about being spellbound with the whites he saw on television. He recalls seeing a commercial saying, "Blondes have more fun." He remembered that commercial...