The Bestselling Novel: Currents in American History and Culture

Conditioned into Inferiority

Throughout Kindred, many of the characters are unhappy with the injustices they have to face as slaves. However, while they do not agree with slavery, they seem to have grown to accept what their masters tells them; that they are inferior and unworthy. This phenomenon can be referred to as cultural imperialism. Cultural imperialism is the construction of a dominant cultural understanding that reflects the experiences of a specific group in society. This construction leads to “both an imposition of meaning onto the oppressed group and an erasure or elimination of their experience” (Rasmussen 7-8). Meaning, the oppressed group, slaves in this context, start believing that they are in fact inferior.

An example of that is  how Dana was constantly called a “white-nigger” for being an educated woman. In one incident, Alice gets frustrated at Dana for healing her and not letting her die. Alice expresses,

“Doctor-nigger. Think you know so much. Reading-nigger. White-nigger! Why didn’t you know enough to let me die?” (Butler 160).

Here, Alice is attempting to insult Dana using words such as reading and doctor, that typically have positive connotations. This shows that Alice believes a person of African descent should not be able to do all these things, and by being able to read and practice medicine, they are trying to pass as white people. The racism around Alice has been internalized in her to the extent where she is culturally imperialized into being inferior. Alice continues to attack Dana, claiming “You ought to be ashamed of yourself, whining and crying after some poor white trash of a man, black as you are. You always try to act so white. White nigger, turning against your own people!” (Butler 165). Thus, alluding that by loving her white husband, Dana is distancing herself from people of her own race, and trying to act white.

This cultural imperialism is not limited to the novel. It can be seen in modern times. For instance, influential rapper Kanye West recently tweeted support for Republican President Donald Trump, shocking the general public. He even went on to state that slavery was a choice and people need to stop discussing race. Kanye’s behavior showcases that cultural imperialism is still a huge issue where he passionately believes that the African American population needs to get over the history of slavery.

 
However, while racism may have been internalized in many African Americans, it is worthy to mention that many of them are aware of this internalization and are actively working to dismiss racial prejudice and systematic oppression. An example of such a group is presented in the footage, where an African American man responded back to Kanye calling him out for his ignorance. Just like Alice, it seems that Kanye has been culturally imperialzied into erasing his own racial history. This poses as a great threat and needs to be tackled, before more groups align with alt-right movements out of sheer ignorance.




 
References 
Butler, Octavia E. Kindred. Beacon, 2003
Rasmussen, Claire. “Some theoretical perspectives on women in the modern world.” Women and Politics Around the World: A Comparative History and Survey. Ed. Joyce Gelb, Ed. Mariar Lief Palley. Santa Barbra: ABC-CLIO, 2009. 3-15. Print.

 

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