Racism in “Kindred” by Marcantonio and “Get Out” by Peele Essay

Introduction

Most interpersonal interactions between whites and blacks are affected by the lack of trust between the two races. Both in the book Kindred and the film Get Out, such interactions form a major critical factor, especially when Africans’ point of view is considered. Before time reveals the truth in the historical background of the interaction between the colonizer and the colonized, the individuals view of race is less significant. The essay connects the historical and cultural contexts of racism by relating racism, as portrayed in the film and the book, to current events.

Historical and Cultural Context of Racism

From a historical perspective, white-black interaction has been founded on the racism African Americans suffered daily, which connects through metaphorical expressions of the colonizer-colonized relationship. Slave auctions represented oppressive events that African Americans underwent, which signified power absence in the relationship between the two races. An understanding of the interaction reminds consumers of historical literature of the brutal nature of the relationships and emphasize their existence in modern society, despite seeming outrageous in modern life (Wynter). The concept of racial profiling is synonymous with the postcolonial discourse that raises an understanding of racial discrimination and how African Americans were treated by the whites (Robertson 362). The internal dilemmas faced by blacks, in how they related with whites makes people realizes that as an African American, every life aspect meant struggling against the complete control of white supremacy.

In the United States, racism remains a significant premise; however, many Americans fail to realize its impact on modern social institutions in their lives. Racial profiling remains a significant issue in modern society as it was in slavery. Throughout history, racism was established and through its significance, remained a significant staple of society. With racism embedded in how Americans operate, being part of the American society, especially as a black person, requires an understanding of the discrimination that white Americans are subject to by their African counterparts. Since racism and discrimination was embedded in all societal institutions, most Americans failed to realize what they said was sometimes racist. Microaggressions are everywhere in American society, and seemingly subtle issues that Americans ignore and are numb toward the more significant racism issues (Sue et al. 330). History brings to light subtle racism making it a more critical discussion topic by forcing modern Americans to question their role in the racism evident in America.

As an African, the people were subjected to the role of an enslaved person regardless how they interacted with their white counterparts. In an argument raised on racial discrimination, Thamer and Ruzbeh (138) quote Edward Said’s words by showing that racial discrimination is associated with “power, of discrimination, of varying degree of a complex hegemony.” As such, the colonizer’s knowledge of his position in the colonizer-colonized relationship results in the creation of his own other, which strengthens the superiority and identity of the colonizer. As such, there was always trouble between the whites’ and blacks’ first encounters. Thamer and Ruzbeh use Butler’s words, “The trouble began long before June 9, 1976, when I became aware of it, but June 9 is the day I remember it. It was my twenty-sixth birthday. It was also the day I met Rufus-the day he called me to him for the first time” (138). That goes to give an account of the events that illustrate the adverse effects of racial discrimination.

Relationship between the Topic and Current Events

In the novel, Kevin and the narrator represent the colonizer-colonized relationship’s colonial perspective, which is the self-other. The position held by the two in the book resembles a process that entails self-identification to be acknowledged by others. With this understanding, identity becomes a social relation embedded in the perspectives of the positioning dynamics between how an individual identifies themselves and how they are identified by others (Thamer and Ruzbeh 138). Kevin becomes a victim of self-identity in the book as he tries to comprehend how enslaved people feel. Ashe tries to understand how Dana feels; he becomes self-aware about how he feels sorry for himself instead of for Dana (Robertson 364). Through time travel, the reality of the colonizer-colonized relationship comes to light, and Dana becomes subject to the role of a slave.

In modern America, Kindred represents the discomfort that African Americans feel, being trapped in a situation where they often struggle to identify their place in a society that makes them feel they do not belong. Racism is embedded in every social institution in America, and the specific socio-political order of what is essential in the lives of Americans is offered to all but made more available to whites than to blacks or other races in the country. Leadership’s dominant, moral, and intellectual aspects determine what a social group can achieve. In most cases, the ability of other races in America to win governmental powers is determined by self-identity, segregating the people in their racial groups (Robertson 373). The primary beneficiary of the politically instituted superior colonial policy has a significant influence on the lives of the colonized, which brings about hegemony, a postcolonial concept that indicates how powerful authorities obtain and sustain supremacy (Thamer and Ruzbeh 140). The white still hold their identity as the bargaining chip to negotiate for other races’ positions in the country.

In the film, Peele refers to an era when slavery was associated with slave markets. In Get Out, not only do the whites feel they still have control of the African Americans, they still consider themselves to have complete authority over their lives (Wynter). In Rose’s community, the whites treat their African counterparts as individuals with little value, making them feel they can sell them. Chris awakens to this reality when he acknowledges how Rose’s family and the entire community relations with the few blacks in the community (Sue et al. 332). Peele makes the audience understand how the American society, in the film, treats Africans as objects to be sold or traded.

Discrimination and racism in Get Out reflect the magnitude of racial profiling still evident in America. Peele shows this when Chris is asked for his driving license even though his girlfriend Rose is the one driving (Wynter). The whites are privileged by their skin color, which comes out strongly in the film, making Chris afraid to meet them at the start. The fear is evident when Chris is singled out in a scene that establishes discrimination between the white family and him, emphasizing the colonizer-colonized relationship in the colonial era (Sue et al. 334). In the modern era, the relationship has been linked to several instances of police brutality throughout the U.S., culminating in the 2017 Black Lives Matter Campaign. Since 2014, discrimination against Africans by the police has seen an increase in the number of police brutality events. For example, in 2014, Michael Brown, an African teenager from Missouri, was fatally shot by Darren Wilson, a police officer (Wiggs 138). Brown was shot since he had been accused of robbing a store, yet he was unarmed.

The subsequent events attributed to police brutality have seen several Africans lose their lives at the hands of the police. The shooting in Ferguson and the erupted protests highlighted the first in many instances of police brutality throughout the country in the years that followed. Every year, racial discrimination controversy grew in strength due to an increasing number of individuals reporting similar cases (Wiggs 139). Get Out came when attention was on racism and discrimination against African Americans.

Conclusion

Relationships are founded on trust; however, in interracial relationships, historical understanding of the association between the colonizer and the colonized makes it challenging to see the relationship like in the start. As evident in Rose and Chris and Kevin and Dana, Africans in interracial couples realize that whites still feel superior to blacks. Blacks are often dispossessed of their character and subjected to discrimination, making them feel they do not belong in society. In the modern era, racism and discrimination are still evident in the social institutions, which give the white authority and power over the blacks resulting in police brutality and politically instituted superior colonial policy.

Works Cited

Robertson, Benjamin J. “‘Some Matching Strangeness’: Biology, Politics, and the Embrace of History in Octavia Butler’s ‘Kindred.’” Science-Fiction Studies, vol. 37, no. 3, 2010, pp. 362–381.

Sue, Derald Wing, et al. “Racial Microaggressions in the Life Experience of Black Americans.” Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, vol. 39, no. 3, 2008, pp. 329–36. EBSCOhost. Web.

Thamer Amer JubouriAl_Ogaili, and Ruzbeh Babaee. “Postcolonial Powers of Opposition in Octavia Butler’s Kindred.” International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, vol. 5, no. 2, 2015, p. 137.

Wiggs, Kimber L. “The Trouble: Family, Genre, and Hybridity in Octavia Butler’s ‘Kindred.”.” Mosaic (Winnipeg), vol. 54, no. 1, 2021, pp. 129–145.

Wynter, Kevin. Critical Race Theory and Jordan Peele’s Get Out. Bloomsbury Academic, 2022.