“Desiree’s Baby”

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“Desiree’s Baby”

Désirée’s Baby’s author, Kate Chopin, brings out racism as the central conflict, illustrating America’s explicit and systematic racism. “My mother, they tell me I am not white…tell them it is not true.” This quote depicts the cruelty of Armand toward Desiree and his slaves due to entrenched ideas of race. Armand’s practice of racism on others is ironic because he has a Black ancestry, an indication of hypocrisy that marks race and gender. Generally, this racism reveals how the racial-based divisions are harsh and arbitrary.

Sweetness Story

Toni Morrison’s Sweetness story revolves around discrimination against blacks in America. Morrison says, ” Lula Ann needed to learn how to behave…Her color is a cross she will always carry.” Lula Ann’s black color threatened Sweetness’s ambition to blend, making Sweetness distance herself from her. This experience implies that a mother’s harshness and racist parenting can make low-esteemed children unconfident because they are not proud of their skin color. Blacks have been conditioned to believe that their color equals ugliness; thus, the outcome is a wish to live up to the white beauty standard.

References

Chopin, K. Desiree’s Baby.

Morrison, T. (February 2, 2015). Sweetness. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/09/sweetness-2