After moving from Oklahoma to Alabama and rediscovering a whole new place, he was doing it again, hence his effort to use comedy to break any ice and see things that might be unclear. He starts his exploring on the transportation of NY, and the subway. Here he sees a fight for a seat between a white women and black male. I see this fight defining America. We all know that we are one race, despite different skin color and gender, when we can fight amongst each other equally, have a balanced sense of hate for each other.
Hate is a harsh term, but it does seem to get the point across.
I'm not sure if this is exactly what Henry James's idea was, but it seems to make sense to me. I just think that it is sad that for us to become equal, we must begin to fight and hate each other. I found it really interesting that once Ellison had the freedom of sitting where he wanted on the bus, where did he actually like to sit the best. It was, actually, the back. It had more leg room, better view, and, he could sit there on his own decision, not just because a white wanted his seat.