“The very serious
function of racism… is a distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It
keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being. Somebody says
you have no language, and so you spend 20 years proving that you do. Somebody
says your head isn’t shaped properly, so you have scientists working on the fact
that it is. Somebody says that you have no art, so you dredge that up. Somebody
says you have no kingdoms, so you dredge that up. None of that is
necessary.”
_Toni Morrison
Beginning with the very first line of
the above-mentioned code, the author calls racism a 'distraction'. In the past
many decades, especially in European countries, racism has become a common
issue, and somewhere it is subtle but, in some places, it becomes outright
apparent.
For example, in the context of Pink by Judith Thompson, a one-act play, the writer points out some racist acts of a 10-year-old girl Lucy and shows how discrimination against Blacks has become a part of their culture, the mindset being imparted into the children as well. When the girl asks her mother why Blacks are paid less, the mother says that the Whites need more money.
This essential act of paying the Blacks less money and then the mother's racist statement in response to her child diverts the attention from the fact that even if Blacks work as hard as Whites, if not more, they are still being paid less because of a racist stereotype that Whites deserve more than Blacks. And when the Black maid, Nellie, goes to the march to stand for her rights, where she is shot to death, Lucy says that she should not have gone.
This scenario links to the quote that they justify their
‘reason for being. They have the right to a better life and can fight
for freedom and equal opportunities, but they cannot take a real stand just
because they are stuck ‘explaining’ their reasons for it.
In Detention, by Chris Van Wyk, the
aspect of Black brutality becomes apparent. It is a poem about the time when Blacks were abducted and kept in Vorster Square Tower, where they were
tortured, maimed, killed, and even committed suicide. These people were primarily public figures and human rights activists, some of whom were influential people.
They were captured because they either worked or spoke against the leading all-White National Party, which passed decrees and bills to separate Blacks’ and Whites’ public facilities like theaters, transport, and bathrooms. When these prisoners were killed or committed suicide, the media and politicians covered these acts by saying, “They fell from the ninth floor”, and many more things like this, which became absurd, and people stopped questioning it.
They were stopped from ‘working’ for their freedom and rights.
Another statement, “your head isn't shaped properly”, connects to the context of the poem How to Write the Great American Indian Novel, by Sherman Alexi. The poet says along the lines that Indians must have “tragic” arms and appearance, meaning that they must look malnourished and weak as they belong to an underdeveloped country.
It was a
common stereotype believed all around the world that Indians are a poor nation
and have “tragic faces,” meaning they looked weak and had weird features. This
presented a wrongful image in the minds of global audiences.
Considering the last part of the quotation, 'you have no kingdoms', it is highlighted that for centuries and centuries, Blacks were considered a nation without a homeland. And this was not only for Blacks but also for many non-White nations like Asians and Native Americans. When Columbus went to the American land, he became famous for discovering the land, as if it was uninhabited before he came here.
However, Native American tribes already lived there, who were later called ‘The Red
Indians’. For many decades, no one questioned Columbus’s claim that he
discovered America, although it is a fact that no land is discovered when it
has people living on it. The Red Indian tribes were forced to leave, becoming a nation without ‘kingdoms’. This was called the ‘Indian Removal Act,
which went on without being questioned.
For centuries, non-Whites suffered at the hands of White, who were considered a superior nation, far above everyone else, and thought that being White gave them the right to enslave all non-Whites.
Polls show that Blacks make up almost 13% of the US population (2021), and out of them, almost 27% percent of the people killed in police shootings were Blacks, even after the hashtag Black Lives Matter gained momentum in 2020 (Newsweek). It was reported that out of the 1001 people killed by the police in 2021, almost 300 were Blacks (Washington Post).
