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Racial identities are an ideological, social construct and phenomenon adopted by various literature. Many literature authors select the subject of race to identify the existing stereotypes of race in the modern and ancient societies. Toni Morrison reveals her beliefs about racisms through a graphic description of the Recitatif plot. The style allows the reader to experience the true nature of racism and revelation of personal traits without the use of race. In the short story, Recitatif, Morrison deliberately denies her characters, their racial identity contributing to the ambiguity fluctuating between the dominant races, white and black. The author reviews the historical events of the 1960s and 70s that promote the racial identities of White and African-Americans. Changing the expectations of her readers on the solutions based on stereotypes, further spreading the awareness of the racial stereotypes that are controversial topics on human existence (Löchle 4). The ironic nature, literature tricks, and the plot of the story embrace the racial stereotypes unfolding in the narrative. The author engages her readers through a closer reading through the adoption of literary elements, allowing the readers to fill in the gaps in the story. Through their participation, the readers develop an emotional attachment to the characters and the story, generating a deeper understanding and reversal responses. In particular, the ambiguity of racial

The Oscar Whiteness Machine, written by Richard Brody, was published in the online The New Yorker January 21st, 2016. The author has written for the New Yorker since 1999 and has been one of their white movie critics, one of the subjects of this article, since 2005. In the Article Brody takes the stance of a social justice warrior, proclaiming war on all those complicit in the disparity between white and black; especially in the film arena. His subject changes with paragraphs, movie critics, Oscar nominees and watchers, readers of the article, and anyone discriminatory. The Oscar Whiteness Machine is a mix of genres but it gets its main point across, black people have been discriminated against in the Oscars, and in life, and the film business plays a role in the suppression of black culture.

The concept art imitates life is crucial to film directors who express their views on political and social issues in film. In regard to film studies, race is a topic rare in many films. Like America, many films simply refuse to address this topic for various reasons. However, more recently, Jordan Peele’s 2017 box office hit Get Out explicates contemporary race relations in America. In the form of an unconventional comedy horror, Get Out is intricate in its depiction of white liberal attitudes towards African Americans. In short, Get Out suggests a form of covert racism existing in a post- Jim Crow era. Similarly, Eduardo Bonilla- Silva’s book Racism Without Racists acknowledges the contemporary system of racism or “new racism,” a system

Furthermore, Biman Basu’s The Black Voice And The Language Of The Text: Toni Morrison’s Sula, investigates what he calls “one of the most significant developments in African American tradition…the formation of a class of intellectuals” (Article). More precisely, Basu is speaking of individuals like Morrison, who have not only broken down barriers for herself as a woman writer, but the others whom have followed in her footsteps to publish a rich tapestry of African-American literature. Furthermore, Basu’s investigates the conflict that arises when one class overtakes another stating that the conflict “on one hand, is between African-American and American Culture, and on the other, between this class of intellectuals and the ‘people’”(article).

The commentary on My Pafology is almost identical in its claim that the novel reflects the real African-American experience. Even the scholars and writers on the board of judges with Monk for The Book Award are not able to see that it is a parody. Monk has written the novel with the intention of illustrating what society’s representation of Black life is and then caricaturizing it to show how absurd and narrow it is. Yet, instead of recognizing the novel and its protagonist, Van Go

In her article, “They Pretend to Be Us While Pretending We Don’t Exist,” Jenny Zhang discusses poet Michael Derrick Hudson’s use of a Chinese pen name in order to get published, a choice which he defends by saying that taking on a minority’s identity helped him get the “edge” he needed, but is really an act of appropriation. Zhang uses this particular instance and a few others to bring attention to racism both in the writing world and society itself. By falsely identifying as a minority, white writers think publishers will be more interested in their work to add diversity to a company; however, being an actual minority or person of color in the writing world makes it more difficult to get published and even more difficult to be sure of the

Systematic racism continues to perpetuate the marginalization of people of color in the 21st century despite belief of living in a post racial society. This unfortunate reality is seen in many different forms of current culture. One of the ways systematic racism takes current form, is in the negative portrayal created by a single narrative, or the lack thereof, minority groups. This lack of representation or diversity of people of color in different forms of art and platforms, not only affects those subject to misrepresentation, but perpetuates negative attitudes and discriminatory behavior towards those subject to misrepresentation. It is necessary to look into the ways this single narrative in different art forms affects marginalized group, and the current move to dismantle the component power plays in who gets to tell these stories.

In these lines from Derek Walcott’s “A Far Cry from Africa,” the speaker emphasizes the natural human tendencies to “inflict pain.” Similarly, in his poem, “Sympathy,” Paul Dunbar explores pain from the point of view of a bird being trapped in a cage. It flaps its wings and tries to escape but it cannot. The bird symbolizes an African American bound by slavery and unable to escape. On the other hand, in Claude McKay’s poem “The Harlem Dancer,” the dancer feels as if

“Representing Whiteness in the Black Imagination” written by American author, feminist and social activist, bell hooks, dissects the dichotomy of black and white culture in a westernized society. Hooks utilizes the term ‘whiteness’ throughout her piece as an acknowledgment of the domination, imperialism, colonialism, and racism that white people have asserted among black people. This discipline progressively has evolved from history; through slavery and forth, leaving an imprint in

It doesn’t take long to figure out that race and ethnicity issues continue to affect America - a quick glance at the news will show the latest riot, hate crime, or police brutality incident. This centuries old struggle has given rise to a number of literary works on the topic, many of which take a different approach to the issue. W.E.B. Du Bois, for instance, published the work The Souls of Black Folk in 1903, arguing for blacks’ right to equality in a horrifically segregated society. In these essays, Du Bois coined the term “double-consciousness,” wherein those with black skin must view the world both from their own perspective, and from the perspective of the predominately white society. The short story Recitatif by Toni Morrison explores this concept through the removal of the characters’ races, and the film Do the Right Thing, directed by Spike Lee, tells a story to demonstrate it. While the former shows double-consciousness through the usage of ambiguity, the latter almost directly references the concept. Taken together, these two sources argue a multi-faceted version double-consciousness, wherein society alienates the characters in ways that go beyond just the color of one’s skin.

Through a number of important essays, Marleen Barr’s “Afro-Futurism” opens up a conversation about racial autonomy and collective agency in a literary space that seems to have been reluctant to even whisper about such things: namely, Science Fiction. Maybe that is not all that surprising given the genre’s predominantly white(ned?) literary categorization that, while it has no outright barred people-of-color, has not in turn seemed to make any meaningful space for them, either . Indeed, there is such an implicit racial claim of science fiction by White Culture that when a person-of-color is cast in one of the starring roles of a major Science Fiction production – oh, let’s say “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” – that there is a massive outcry and calls for boycott and existential fears of white erasure.

In an article written by Marie Warmbold titled “Harry Potter: Oliver with a Magical Twist”, which can be found in Discovering Popular Culture edited by Anna Tomasino, Harry Potter had been compared to Oliver Twist as well as comparing the authors from both stories. Warmbold points out how both pieces of literary work had been released in separate parts. The Harry Potter series was sold as 7 books over a span of a decade. In comparison, Charles Dickens “always favored part-issue publication. Not one of his novels appeared for the first time as a single complete work.” (Warmbold 193) The author of the article goes on to compare the two main characters since both characters were orphans and had very difficult childhoods. (Warmbold 196) To elaborate,

According to Wilkerson, “From the beginning, television, the image mill for the mainstream has not known what to do with black characters. It has struggled, as has the country, to find a place for them that white Americans could find comforting and digestible from the safe distance of their living rooms. Reality had nothing to do with it.” The media has portrayed black characters as nothing more than, buffoons, hustlers, pimps, and prostitutes.

Have you ever read the Harry Potter series? I bade you to read the Harry Potter series. I have three reasons why you should read the novel, and they are: if you like magic, if you like wizards and witches, if you like suspense, then read the Harry Potter series. However, if you haven’t read the series, here is a brief description of the first book of the novel: “The Fantasy Novel, ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’, By J.K. Rowling is about a boy named Harry Potter who was a one year old that was left on the doorstep of his mother’s sister’s house, (Petunia Dursley). His Aunt and her husband, Vernon Dursley, accepted Harry. Eleven years later Harry Potter receives a letter from one of the best schools of Witchcraft and Wizardry named Hogwarts, a school for magic people. When Harry finds out he is a wizard, he sets off for Hogwarts, where he finds that he is very famous because of his lightning shaped scar and his great Quidditch skills. He also meets many kind people and his very first best friends, named Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. Harry, Ron, and Hermione survive all the way to the end of the novel, where they discover that the Sorcerer’s Stone is about to be stolen, so Harry Ron, and Hermione try to save the stone. Finally Harry Potter alone reaches the stone where he meets the thief of the stone, the Dark Lord. There he most importantly finds a path he must take later in the series to overtake the Dark Lord, if he could survive his destiny.” After reading

Over the course of this semester I have completed most of the Harry Potter Series. I have Noticed a certain theme to all the books. Severus Snape is never really identified as a hero, or as a heel. Through all the books he is performs acts or cruelty and redeems himself with acts of kindness. He does it in a vise versa manner as well. It’s hard for the reader to out their finger, or their perspective on Severus Snape. The reader is basically on a rollercoaster ride with Snape.