Racism In Benito Cereno

While Delany was walking back to his seat after winning an award for “Aye, and Gomorrrah” fellow writer Isaac Asimov pulled him aside and jokingly said,”You know, Chip, we only voted you those awards because you're negro”(18). Delany, although realizing that Asimov was using satire to say that the color of his skin had no part in the voting decision. Realized that unintentionally or not, Asimov was saying that no matter Delany's achievements he will always be “Negro”. This fits in to Delany’s explanation of what systematic racism does, it acclimates people of color to be comfortable with the isolation of races. Because Delany is a black writer he will foremost be know as a black writer before anything else, and will always be grouped in that category. This well intentioned joke fuels the system that is racism.

The 1930's was a time of change for the blacks of the United States of America. However, this change was not all for the better. The main change for blacks during this period was that many of them migrated to the North, which in turn, caused many other situations, which included

Herman Melville is an author whose work has been so hotly debated by many people for many different reasons. One of his finest short stories that were criticized a lot was Benito Cereno and this paper is going to focus on racial profiling. He has written a lot and at the center of his most famous work, a juxtaposition of gender in America, an odd scrivener, and his much-discussed story of a slave mutiny in “Benito Cereno”; the meaning behind Melville’s work has remained mysterious. The reason there is so much contention about his work is that Melville was not writing as an all-knowing observer of American society, but as one of the masses trying to define an ever-evolving America. In Melville’s short stories, he used symbolism and characterization to define not only the one-of-a-kind America but also his own feelings of disillusionment and guilt living in a time and a place that he was able to capture beautifully through literature.

In Herman Melville’s mysterious novella, “Benito Cereno”, Captain Amasa Delano observes, what appears to be, a distressed Spanish slave ship navigating into the harbor of St. Maria. Disregarding the opposition from his crew, Captain Delano leaves his ship, Bachelor's Delight, and approaches the foreign vessel, San Dominick, via a whaleboat. In addition to offering water and provisions to the vessel in distress, Captain Delano encounters—who appears to be in command of the vessel—Don Benito Cereno, and his “faithful” negro servant Babo. Throughout the novella, Captain Delano witnesses many suspicious behaviors from Benito Cereno, Babo, and the other slaves on board. Although Captain Delano has mixed feelings about Benito Cereno, in which he often views him as a “paper captain” who has “little of command but the name”, Captain Delano fails to latch onto his intuition of who is truly in command of the ship until it’s almost too late.

Looking at the passage more closely, however, reveals an innuendo that transforms the previously stated message of abolition into something less progressive. Delano places the blame of the horrors of slavery that he witnesses on the institution of slavery itself instead of the individual. Instead of looking upon Don Benito with blame, it is instead slavery that, “breeds ugly passions in a man”. This means that the individual who executed the action does not burden the blame, as slavery inspires and controls a man 's action. This perspective dehumanizes the violence and atrocities that occur with slavery and excuses the people who carry them out. Delano does not expresses a truly anti-slavery message, but one that pardons the perpetrators of slavery. This mitigates the amount of emotional and physical turmoil that slaves have endured. If someone commits atrocities but does not get held accountable, the person pardoning the guilty clearly does not

Race has been an issue in North America for many years. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva discusses the new racism in his book, Racism without Racists. Bonilla-Silva classifies the new racial discrimination as color blind racism. Color blind racism is then structured under four frames (26). Color blind racism is believed to have lead to the segregation of the white race from other minorities called white habitus. Color blind racism and white habitus has affected many people, whom don’t even realize that they are, have been or will be affected.

Race is a manmade social construction, first used to justify slavery in the early Colonial period. The articles discussed in this paper examines different elements of race and of slavery. The articles present two completely different opinions on the treatment and ideals associated with race and slavery before the civil war. While the articles are on completely different sides of spectrum associated with slavery, they are both discussing race.

The works of Herman Melville and Frederick Douglass are both centered on the topic of slavery. Although both texts are similar in the sense that they focus directly on the theme of slavery, the functions of each work differ drastically. The differences in the works stem from both the style of the text, and the way that this style functions in accordance with the reader. Although Herman Melville’s Benito Cereno is drawn from an actual event, Melville embellishes and alters the event in the style of prose. The prose style used by Melville invites the reader to question the story while understanding that the majority of the work is fictional. The confusion of Captain Delano is brought onto the reader, and therefore engages the reader because of the limited point of view the story is told in. Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass tells of actual events that occurred using twentieth and twenty-first century plain style. This style of writing does not ask the reader to question what he is saying, but feel his emotions as they read the narrative. Although readers may understand both works to be stories about slavery written differently in terms of style, I argue that the way the texts are written sets up the readers interpretation of them. Melville and Douglass differ because Melville’s work invites the reader to think, whereas Douglass’s work invites the reader to feel.

“Until justice is blind to color, until education is unaware of race, until opportunity is unconcerned with the color of men 's skins, emancipation will be a proclamation but not a fact” (Lyndon B. Johnson). Frederick Douglas and Herman Melville lived in the same time for almost the same length of time. Herman Melville lived from August, 1819 – September 28, 1891, while Frederick Douglass lived from February, 1818 – February 20, 1895. Yet these two narratives couldn’t have been more different. While taking a look at the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas and Benito Cerano we can see these two insights of their world. I will be delving into how these two narratives show the condoning of racialized slavery, the endorsing of rebellion, and their individual perspectives. There is one thing that combines these two and that is their education. Education is what shifts the mind from the mind of a brute regardless of color to the level of where color and racism don’t exist.

Early American Literature reflects many conflicting differences in the presentation of slavery during that time period. Through the two chosen texts, the reader is presented with two different perspectives of slavery; Frederick Douglass’s narrative provides a look at a slave’s life through the eyes if a slave while Benito Cereno showcases the tale of a slave uprising from the viewpoint of the slave owner.. Benito Cereno’s work shows the stereotypical attitude towards African-American slaves and the immorality of that outlook according to Douglass’s narrative. Cereno portrays the typical white slave owner of his time, while Douglass’ narrative shows the thoughts of the slaves. The two stories together show that white Americans are oblivious to the ramifications and overall effects of slavery. These texts assist a moralistic purpose in trying to open up America’s eyes to the true nature of slavery by revealing it’s inhumanity and depicting the cruelty that was allowed.

This essay will focus on the film Racism: a History. I picked the film over the other films offered, because it taught me many things about history of the Black Americans. It illustrates how race continues to justify economic misuse and injustices. It shows how people moved from their maternal land, bound in slavery, and killed. This happens when people view others as though they are not human beings.

I personally learned a lot more than what the prejudice and discrimination that we saw in Chapter 9

Imperialism and then colonialism opened the floodgates that are troubled race relations, racism, and misguided societal values. Race has played a vital role in how Americans view each other, and themselves, and the experiences that they have. We constantly hear about institutionalized racism, the school-to-prison pipeline and police brutality on the news. The topic of race has such an enormous presence in our society that it simply cannot be ignored. But what is rarely talked about is how these conditions are incredibly similar to those that people in Latin America have to endure as well. Racism does not end at the borders of the United States, and in fact, they only seem to get worse in countries that are less developed.

In Racist America author Joe Feagin confronts the passive attitude, held by many in the Anglo culture in America, towards racism. This is the third edition of the title specifically revised for undergraduate and graduate use in studies. It deals in depth with the historical, political and economic foundations of racism and white supremacy. It adds a rich breath of knowledge on the subject matter, and an expert knowledge in addressing the issues we will be discussing throughout the writing.

Captain Amasa Delano is an interesting embodiment of white complacency about slavery and it's perpetuation. Delano is a human metaphor for white sentiment of the time. His deepest sensibilities of order and hierarchy make it impossible for him to see the realities of slavery. Delano's blindness to the mutiny is a metaphor for his blindness to the moral depravity of slavery. The examination of Captain Delano's views of nature, beauty, and humanity, allow us to see his often confusing system of hierarchical order which cripples his ability to see the mutiny and the injustice of slavery.