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Introduction
Most stories we have focused on have brought out the idea of racism in their plots. Hence, I will evaluate the role of systemic racism in The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris and Dutchman by Amiri Baraka. I will consider the genre of the novel and evaluate its presentation of systemic racism as prevalent and unjust. I will use various sources to examine what different authors have said about the topic.
Systemic Racism in The Other Black Girl by Harris and Dutchman by Baraka
Systemic racism is constant and cyclic until society chooses to break the round. This notion provides a moral fiber in the story The Other Black Girl and the Dutchman. One unique thing in the novel The Other Black Girl is that the author expresses systemic racism through dark humor and a real chat about the topic. Black people experience systemic racism frequently in and out of their workplace, which is highlighted in the novel. How systemic racism has been expressed in the story does not make the novel too self-righteous or very didactic. Black people go through systemic racism inside and outside of their work numerous times. However, the novel expresses that they also live authentic, complete lives and find ways to enjoy themselves. The author has delivered both messages, making the novel interesting to read.
The main character in the story, Nella, often reads about overt kinds of anti-black racism and violence like dangerous media campaigns, redlining, and police brutality. Nevertheless, she also experiences common kinds of systemic racism in the workplace daily, including structural disparities and unfair employment practices that restrict the number of open positions present to people of color. Harris mainly portrays the form of wear and tear that the sole Black individual in the workplace can have on someone’s psychology and how they view themselves. She specifically targeted Nella’s experience with intricate female relationships and racial tensions in the workplace, specifically the publishing sector. Being the only black person in a workplace full of white people makes one feel like they stand for all black people. Something is intimidating about having one’s existence defined by their relation to black people. Hence, Nella’s insecurities about whether she said the correct thing the correct way to her white coworkers or if her colleagues love her novel black colleague Hazel more than she is typical of what black females experience in a workplace full of white people. Black people are struggling to climb up the corporate ladder due to systemic racism. Hence, making the office a more diverse place is what drives Nella to prosper at Wagner Books because she was focused on achieving what many Black people have not yet achieved due to the obstacles of racism. However, the challenge is with Nella’s white coworkers, who view her color on their terms and not hers. Such detachment results in many things, such as feeling tokenized, experiencing burnout, and feeling like she cannot be true to herself originally.
In the play The Dutchman, the author brings out racial injustices through the relationship between a black man and a white lady. The Dutchman’s author aimed to show the non-recognition of blacks, especially in America. The USA is seen as a doomed nation since it rejects black people. Baraka points out that being a black man in America is one of the most challenging works. This play has been updated to a more modern late 20th-century context, a design selection that insinuates that systemic racism is an ongoing and continuous matter that will claim more victims until the cycle is broken. Racial oppression is one of the most critical obstacles to social injustice. Hence, the play Dutchman mirrors the views of the development of social hierarchies. The author tries to show that racial stratification has always existed in America. The relationship between Clay and Lula mirrors the author’s idea of the relationship between white and black Americans, which is a slave-master relationship. Lula, from the start, tries continuously to make Clay feel guilty, particularly when she accuses him of staring at her body, which is her first step to intimidate and manipulate him. However, Clay tries to show Lula that the whites are the ones who should feel guilty because it is their weight. Lula’s manipulative seduction shows American people’s attempts to compensate black people because of their guilt. Slave-possessing society in America created a wall of color: the enslaved person was to be despised, not the method of slave production. The black color was a sign of slavery and human inferiority. Hence, Lula feels guilt because she wants to show Clay that she does not despise him because of his color. Dutchman is a reminder that very little has changed for black people in the US and the world. It is the hope of many that they will begin to talk about numerous manners that they can change their practices of seeing black people who are intelligent, articulate, and learned as neither invisible nor threatening.
Conclusion
In both stories, racial discrimination is portrayed in a manner that mirrors both the past and modern society. One thing that prevails is that systemic racism is still happening and will continue until society breaks it off. I have identified several articles that will help me explain the topic of systemic racism and how it is portrayed in both stories. I plan to discuss how systemic racism is presented as a cyclical and continuous act perpetrating hatred and the sense of guilt between whites and people of color.
Preliminary Bibliography
Buschendorf, Christa. “Systemic Racism: Reading Ralph Ellison with Bourdieu’s Theory of Power.” Reading the Social in American Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2022. 105-130.
This source contains the analysis of a well-known American writer regarded as a progressive Black author due to his political views. His analysis of systemic racism will give new insights into the topic by giving a perspective of systemic racism from a Black person.
Cole, Johnnetta Betsch. “The Need for Courageous Conversations About Race And Racism In American Public Life.” Racism in American Public Life: A Call to Action, University of Virginia Press, 2021, pp. 43–69. JSTOR, Web.
This source talks about courageous conversations regarding race in the US public life. This source can help show how people have become brave to speak freely about the racial divide that happens to people who live in the US.
Joshua, Emily. Shattering the Silence: “Dutchman”. The Standard, Web.
This source explains how the Missouri State University students acted in the Dutchman play and how they portrayed systemic racism alongside other themes of the play. It will be useful in my project to give a real picture of how the theme of systemic racism is displayed in plays.
Kohli, Rita, et al. “The ‘New Racism’ of K-12 Schools: Centering Critical Research on Racism.” Review of Research in Education, vol. 41, 2017, pp. 182–202. JSTOR, Web.
This source talks about systemic racism in K-12 Schools where people of color are disadvantaged because of their race. It will be useful for my project to show how systemic racism is still happening even in schools.
McKay, Dwanna L. “Masking Legitimized Racism: Indigeneity, Colorblindness, And The Sociology Of Race.” Seeing Race Again: Countering Colorblindness across the Disciplines, edited by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw et al., 1st ed., University of California Press, 2019, pp. 85–104.JSTOR, Web.
This article discusses the segregation of answerability for the colorblindness of ethnic unfairness. It will be helpful in my project to explain how racial injustice has been happening without perpetrators being held accountable for their actions.
Miller, D. Scot. “Afrosurreal Manifesto: Black Is the New Black—A 21st Century Manifesto.” Black Camera, vol. 13 no. 1, 2021, p. 515-519. Project MUSE. Web.
This paper contains the concept of Afro-Surreal that Amiri Baraka named when conveying racism in his work. This source will be helpful in the discussion of how the anti-racism movements are using surrealism in their fights against racism.
Noble, Safiya Umoja.”Searching for Black Girls.”Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism, NYU Press, 2018, pp. 64–109. JSTOR, Web.
This source talks about the racism that black females go through. I will use it to show how the world has created a novel view of individual freedoms which restrict a person’s participation, contribution, and creativity due to systemic racism.
Sharma, Nitasha Tamar. “Racism In Paradise: Antiblack Racism And Resistance In Hawai‘I.” Hawai’i Is My Haven: Race and Indigeneity in the Black Pacific, Duke University Press, 2021, pp. 166–216. JSTOR, Web.
This source discusses racism in Hawai’i, a state with many people from different races. It will assist me in showing that no place is safe because families, workplaces, and schools are sites for daily and systemic racism.
Williams-Forson, Psyche A. “Epilogue: When Racism Rests on Your Plate, Indeed, Worry about Yourself.” Eating While Black: Food Shaming and Race in America, University of North Carolina Press, 2022, pp. 191–204. JSTOR, Web.
This article discusses how victims of racism worry about themselves when they experience racial discrimination. I will use it to show how people in America live in fear because of their race.
Zamalin, Alex. “Antiracism: An Introduction”. NYU Press, 2019. Project MUSE. Web.
This article discusses how anti-racism has become a powerful convention energizing US democracy. I will use it to show the strategies put in place to fight racism in the US and how it affects democracy in the country.
Zhu, Lingjun. “The Paradoxical Characterization in Dutchman: Reflection of Baraka’s Ambivalent Stance in the 1960s.” International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation 5.3 (2022): 80-85.
This article talks about Baraka’s stance on racism in Dutchman. It will help me to identify how systemic racism is conveyed in the play and how the author how black people struggle to fight against white dominance.
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