Comparing The Interracial Relationship In The Human Stain And Coleman

1113 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Racism in literature

In both Peele’s Get Out and Roth’s The Human Stain, the black protagonists must take on a variety of unique hardships in relation to their interracial relationship. All of these hardships are directly related to their race, and the unknown or suspected bigotry of their significant others. Be it stress, rejection, or enslavement, Chris and Coleman must suffer for their race. Leading up to the visit in both Get Out and The Human Stain, the audience sees both Coleman and Chris, one a visitor and one a host, mentally preparing themselves for the encounter before them. In The Human Stain, Coleman describes his preparation for the visit as, “the same concentrated way he used to prepare mentally for a fight” (121). Coleman believes he must prepare …show more content…

On the way home from the visit, Steena breaks down, exclaiming “I can’t do it!”, meaning she cannot date a black man (124). The fact that this meltdown comes after she conversed with the Silk’s for some time demonstrates the insubstantiality of her inability to date a black man. For the entirety of her stay with the Silk’s, Steena was able to be civil and amicable, as Coleman describes their interaction as one of “unflagging rectitude”(124). Coleman goes on to say that should everyone have been blindfolded, the conversation would have been the same, highlighting Steena’s convincing ability to converse and interact regardless of race (124). Furthermore, Steena already has been able to “do it”, as she and Coleman have been in a relationship for some time. Steena’s evident capacity to be in a relationship with a man of color illuminates her supposed inability for the insubstantial racist belief that it is. Coleman is right in his previous assumption that should she have known of both his family and his own identity, she would revert to the racist representation of black people that she is used to. For the time they were dating before the visit, Coleman’s race had no impact on their relationship as it does not impact the character of a person. Yet, the destruction of their relationship at the hands of race shows how powerful bigoted beliefs can

Show More
Related

  • The Influence Of Race In Incognegro

    1497 Words  | 3 Pages

    Race has been a prevalent issue in the United Sates since the beginning of slavery. White society seems to think that race is biologically manifested in a person’s skin color. In Incognegro, a graphic novel by Matt Johnson, the main character, Zane Pinchback, exposes lynchings and other horrendous crimes that white people commit against Black people in the South. He demonstrates that race is not entirely manifested in a person’s skin color because people treat him as white, even though he is biologically both Black and white. In discussing his infiltration of the South, his perspective that “Race is a strategy. The rest is just people acting. Playing roles” implies that race is a performance (Johnson 19). As a performance, race occurs as white society classifies people by skin color and enforce a power structure and racial hierarchy to keep themselves above Black people. Race is constructed by layering the phenotypic differences between Black and white people with culturally constructed meanings that white society associates with Black people. Thus, race is not simply based on biological entities, rather it is a layering of

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Audre Lorde And Brent Staples

    661 Words  | 2 Pages

    America have a long history of black’s relationship with their fellow white citizens, there’s two authors that dedicated their whole life, fighting for equality for blacks in America. – Audre Lorde and Brent Staples. They both devoted their professional careers outlying their opinions, on how to reduce the hatred towards blacks and other colored. From their contributions they left a huge impression on many academic studies and Americans about the lack of awareness, on race issues that are towards African-American. There’s been countless, of critical evidence that these two prolific writers will always be synonymous to writing great academic papers, after reading and learning about their life experience, from their memoirs.

    Read More

  • The Help, A Feel-Good Movie That Feels Kind Of Icky,: Movie Analysis

    1017 Words  | 3 Pages

    In “Flight Patterns”, Alexie shows that many people can be ignorant in getting to know someone just because of a preconceived idea based on someone’s skin color. People look past all a person has overcome and dealt with in life just because of the color of their skin. Stevens also aids this idea by saying that the media helps people see race distinctly because of leading roles in movies being often white characters and how even history stories focus on the white race. Both stories bring these issues to light and want readers to understand that there is still a problem with race relations and that media and preconceived ideas play a major part in blurring history and allowing us to forget that skin color is not the only thing that defines a

    Read More

  • The Threat of the Mulatto in The Birth of a Nation

    1425 Words  | 3 Pages

    In D. W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation the interactions between black and white characters represent Griffith’s view of an appropriate racial construct in America. His ideological construction is white dominance and black subordination. Characters, such as the southern Cameron’s and their house maid, who interact within these boundaries, are portrayed as decent people. Whereas characters who cross the line of racial oppression; such as Austin Stoneman, Gus and Silas Lynch, are portrayed as bad. Both Lynch and Lydia Brown, the mulatto characters, are cast in a very negative light because they confuse the ideological construct the most. The mixing of races puts blacks and whites on a common ground, which, in Griffith’s view, is a big step in the wrong direction. Griffith portrays how the relationship between blacks and whites can be good only if the color line and positions of dominance and subordination are maintained. Through the mulatto characters he illustrates the danger that blurring the color line poses to American society.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Zora Neale Hurston

    969 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ethnic group is a settled mannerism for many people during their lives. Both Zora Neale Hurston, author of “How It Feels to Be Colored Me; and Brent Staples, author of “Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space,” realize that their life will be influenced when they are black; however, they take it in pace and don’t reside on it. They grew up in different places which make their form differently; however, in the end, It does not matter to them as they both find ways to match the different sexes and still have productivity in their lives.. Hurston was raised in Eatonville, Florida, a quiet black town with only white passer-by from time-to-time, while Staples grew up in Chester, Pennsylvania, surrounded by gang activity from the beginning. Both Hurston and Staples share similar and contrasting views about the effect of the color of their

    Read More

  • Everybody Hates Chris

    1180 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...nly seen in everyday television. Common beliefs of black families being more aggressive, having lesser moral values, and living less socially acceptable and lawful lives can be clearly seen through the actions of the white characters, and the thoughts that Chris expresses throughout the episode. The show uses satire to exaggerate black stereotypes to the point where it means the opposite of the comedic nature of which it was presented. The treatment and visualization of the lives of the black characters in the episode, through comedy and exaggeration, clearly shows the real-life problem of black stereotyping that is still all too present in American life. Chris’ everyday life as a black student in a white school and struggle to “fit in” is a struggle that non-white students have faced and are still facing today.

    Read More

  • Prejudice in Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes

    1743 Words  | 4 Pages

    Prejudice is a cancer that spreads hate among its perpetrators and victims alike. In 1930 Langston Hughes penned the novel, Not Without Laughter. This powerful story, written from the perspective of an African-American boy named James “Sandy” Rodgers, begins in the early 1900’s in the small town of Stanton, Kansas. Through the eyes of young Sandy, we see the devastating impact of racism on his family and those they are close to. We also see how the generations of abuse by whites caused a divide within the black community. Among, and even within, black families there were several social classes that seemed to hinge on seeking equality through gaining the approval of whites. The class someone belonged to was determined by the color of their skin, the type of church one attended, their level of education, and where an individual was able to find work.

    Read More

  • The Theme Of Race In Toni Morrison's Playing In The Dark?

    1729 Words  | 4 Pages

    The idea of race and the stigma and stereotypes associated with different skin colors have been a constant in our society. From our country’s founding, race has been deeply engrained into our culture—the most prominent example being slavery—and has been the main source of conflict among people. The race issue in America has been illuminated in recent years both intellectually and physically; pieces of literature have been created that explore the repercussions of race in society and the historical implications situations, and events have sparked attention through the media that depict the issues that race creates. An example of examining race in America intellectually can be seen in Toni Morrison’s essay Playing in the Dark, which discusses

    Read More

  • Roth: The Stain of Mankind

    1579 Words  | 4 Pages

    In life you are faced with many challenges and hardships. It is these experiences and how you react to them that shapes and gives you your character. The Human Stain, a novel by Philip Roth is a detailed account of the past of the characters and how the choices that they made build them to be the person that they are today. Everyone has things that they are not proud of from their past. These are essentially the human stains that Roth used as a foundation for The Human Stain. These stains are not limited to a specific person, gender, race, or even society. The prominent stain that affects the protagonist is with his own race. Many of the past experiences that the characters go through take place during America’s own stains, like the Vietnam War, Civil Rights Movement, and the Bill Clinton sex scandal. It is hardships that we have gone through as a country to make us who we are now. Taking a more in-depth look at each character past allows the reader to see the overall message and meaning of the novel. Each of their human stains intertwine to provide the complexity of The Human Stain’s plot.

    Read More

  • Black Like Me & The Fire Next Time Paper

    975 Words  | 2 Pages

    Griffin feels it is necessary to understand the hardship of blacks in the United States of America. Through medications, bleaching and ultraviolet light, Griffin is able to temporarily change his skin color so that he can walk through the streets and understand the injustices faced by African Americans. Later on, the author moves farther south where he is faced with even more racism and begins to switch between white and black skin, understanding the different expressions given by society of both races. While white, Griffin finds that white people treat him with respect and black people fear him. But while black, Griffin is despised and neglected by whites and is welcomed warmly by blacks (Griffin, 1962).

    Read More

  • Does it matter?

    846 Words  | 2 Pages

    Appiah, Kwame Anthony. “Race, Culture, Identity: Misunderstood Connections.” Ways of Reading: An Anthology for Writers. Ed. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. 101-131. Print.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Brent Staples's 'Black Men And Public Space'

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this narrative essay, Brent Staples provides a personal account of his experiences as a black man in modern society. “Black Men and Public Space” acts as a journey for the readers to follow as Staples discovers the many societal biases against him, simply because of his skin color. The essay begins when Staples was twenty-two years old, walking the streets of Chicago late in the evening, and a woman responds to his presence with fear. Being a larger black man, he learned that he would be stereotyped by others around him as a “mugger, rapist, or worse” (135).

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Desmond Cole's 'The Skin I M In'

    937 Words  | 2 Pages

    Society shows prejudice towards black people through their tainted prejudgment, which is seen when the two girls run away from Cole. In addition, society treats black people with discrimination by isolating them from society by denying them entrance to bars and carding. Finally, police officers demonstrate injustice towards black people by treating them harsher than regular citizens, which are seen through constant surveillance in their communities and when Cole and his friends were illegally searched. Ultimately, “The Skin I’m In” shows the magnitude of racism in modern-day Canada. It is society’s mission to ensure that the tragedies of racism are found only in history—nevermore in

    Read More

  • Racism In Langston Hughes

    1978 Words  | 4 Pages

    Within the works of Langston Hughes the theme of prejudiceness is portrayed in many pieces (Ed 2). Growing up as an African American boy there were situations where people prejudged him just because of his skin tone, of course the situations were hurtful, but it later on helped build a powerful story or poem (Ed 2). For this reason, Langston Hughes often narrowed in on the African American working class (Williams 2). Coupled with the African American working class, an individual 's race created a separation between people (Sundquist 2). The separation of individuals for no other reason but their skin tone infuriated Hughes and he took it to pen and paper to express the differences and opposing treatment of civilians (Sundquist 2). When it came to Langston Hughes the achievement of being the best was not his goal, rather it was to get his words across and let people relate or realize what he is telling. Along with the process of seeking awareness, Hughes worked with the categories “racial insights and national attitudes” (Emanuel 119). In addition to the way African Americans were treated, the chances of working and education were also unequal. The opening for a job tended to be much easier for a white citizen to get when being compared to someone with darker skin (MacNicholas 318). White citizens also believed they were superior and that African Americans were outsiders, therefore African Americans education wasn’t taken as seriously or wasn’t available to them (MacNicholas 318). Keeping the focus of racial prejudiceness in mind, Langston Hughes’ works pinpointed mainly cities and when being interviewed about what his goal in his writings is “Hughes replied “I explain and illuminate the Negro working condition in America. This applies to 90 percent of my work” (Emanuel 68-69). Langston Hughes, being an African

    Read More

  • Culture And Identity In David Henry Hwang's 'Yellow Face'

    1246 Words  | 3 Pages

    Race is, in fact, reestablished as an intrusive presence in American collective life in the second part of the play when Hwang 's father and other members of the community become victims of the 1996 Congressional investigation into the loyalty of Chinese Americans suspected of espionage and of obscure financial dealings with China, thereby imposing the reality of racism on a post-racial sensibility. (Botelho 92)

    Read More

More about Comparing The Interracial Relationship In The Human Stain And Coleman

Open Document