Theme Of Racism In The Kitchen House

In the book, a lot of racial stereotypes are found because of the fact that, in that time period, equality was not a thing. So for that reason, the author decided to discuss racism along with other things based on this time period. One example from the novel is the

For example, Sally Thomas was “respected by whites as an industrious, dependable, intelligent and skillful laundress”. Rarely were slaves treated in such a manner and the book goes on to list many other slaves of whom were treated in similarity to Sally Thomas. Although a slave, Sally had a small percentage of power and was ultimately able maneuver “within the system with remarkable agility” She was able to arrange for her kids to work for well-known people so that they could learn and grow to be more civilized. This was rare for a slave of her time to be able to have some say in who her kids would work

Two characters, Elisa Allen and Mary Teller, struggle with the idea of being accepted into the society of the 1930s. Women’s rights were not fully accepted in the 1930s, and these two characters were set in the common day view of men and women. In the 1930s, “[Society has] assigned to white women such roles as housewife, secretary, PTA chairman, and schoolteacher. Black women can now be schoolteachers, too, but they are most prominently assigned to such domestic roles as maid, cook, waitress, and babysitter” (Chisholm 123). These assigned roles have impacted women around the world, including the two characters in these short stories - “The Chrysanthemums” and “The White Quail”. Not being activists in women’s rights, these women conformed to society and lived their lives as any typical housewife in the 1930s. Their passions and choices during this time affected their way of living and relationships. The two stories reflect similarities of the women’s love for gardening and lonely marriages, but also reflect their different viewpoints on the world they live in.

The stereotypes of rural Black women are depicted in the seemingly dilapidated state of mama’s old homestead. This is a stereotype of the poor and humble lives of the black subsistence farmers residing in the old South. Although Dee and her friend look down upon their lives, the reality is different. Mama completely owns her own reality and she is proud

In the 19th century, men and women are being expressed as issues in the era. In Celia A, Slave, the author McLaurin is giving us readers the idea of how men and women dies of innocence from trying to get their issues noticed and heard, such as the slave Celia. Celia A, Slave, is an excellent frame of work of remarkable events that happens in the American History. Celia is purchased by Robert Newsom in 1850. Young Celia only fourteen at time came from Audrain County to her new home, Callaway County. Now, Celia is the property of Robert Newsom; she is training to be a cook in the Newsom’s household. Unfortunately, Celia duties are more than just a cook. McLaurin is unknown if Celia was a slave before being the property of Robert Newsom. “The

From emancipation, leading all the way to the 20th century, African American women struggled to find better opportunities outside of their agricultural laborer and domestic servant roles. In Cooking in Other Women’s Kitchens: Domestic Workers in the South, 1865-1960, author Rebecca Sharpless illustrates how African American women in the American South used domestic work, such as cooking, as a stepping stone from their old lives to the start of their new ones. Throughout the text, Sharpless is set out to focus on the way African American women used cooking to bridge slavery and them finding their own employment, explore how these women could function in a world of low wages, demanding work, and omnipresent racial strife, and refute stereotypes about these cooks. With the use of cookbooks, interviews, autobiographies, and letters from the women, Sharpless guides readers to examine the personal lives and cooking profession of these African American women and their ambition to support themselves and their families.

The setting of a rundown house in a poor neighborhood gives the impression of their struggle to survive as African Americans. The shabbiness of the exterior suggests their low social status. “A relatively recent addition to the house and running its full width, the porch lacks congruence. It is a sturdy porch with a flat roof. One or two chairs of dubious value sit at one end where the kitchen window opens on to the porch. An old fashioned ice box stands silent guard at the opposite end” (Wilson, setting description). While the newly added porch may represent an attempt to

We saw prejudice and discrimination throughout the book. For example, when Lafayette’s was charged with a crime due to hi, been associated with who did it. When LaJoe lost her benefits from the state due to her on and off husband using her home address and when collecting unemployment benefits which LaJoe did not claim as income coming into the home. In both instances, the Rivers were treated as if they were liars and criminals. Because of Lafayette being from the inner city, there was this predetermine thought about any youth that lived in the inner city from the court system. LaJoe was treated with disrespect by the welfare office because of the prejudgment they had formed about people that lived in the inner city. Due to the location in which they stayed, the importance of healthy living condition was not a priority to the city. They were forced to live in the vicinity of garbage, broken sewer systems, dead animals, etc. Also, the children were forced to either stay in their apartments or play on the railroad tracks because the city had only a few areas for them to play. These areas had become run down and it was unsafe for kids to play in. It is unsure why the was such neglect for those areas of the inner city, but one could only think that it had to do with how this race has been treated for years.

From emancipation leading all the way to the 20th century, African American women struggled to find better opportunities outside of their agricultural laborer and domestic servant roles. In Cooking in Other Women’s Kitchens: Domestic Workers in the South, 1865-1960, author Rebecca Sharpless illustrates how African American women in the American South used domestic work, such as cooking, as a stepping stone from their old lives to the start of their new ones. Throughout the text, Sharpless is set out to focus on the way African American women used cooking to bridge slavery and them finding their own employment, explore how these women could function in a world of low wages, demanding work, and omnipresent racial strife, and refute stereotypes about these cooks. With the use of cookbooks, interviews, autobiographies, and letters from the women, Sharpless guides readers to examine the personal lives and cooking profession of these African American women and their ambition to support themselves and their families.

As hardworking women living of the prairie, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters can relate to Mrs. Wright’s situation. They know personally that long days of doing laundry, cooking, and cleaning can become very tiresome (Hedges 91). They realize that living on the prairie can force a woman to be confined to her own house for weeks at a time, and because Mrs. Wright never had children, the grueling loneliness that she suffered must have been excruciating. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters both experience the constant patronization and sexual discrimination that most women in the early twentieth century lived with. They empathize with the difficulties of Mrs. Wright’s life and almost immediately a bond is formed with a woman they do not even know.

Mary E. Wilkins Freeman is one of the many authors that represent the realism movement. Realism is a style of writing started in the mid nineteenth century and lasted until the early twentieth century. Realism was a response to romanticism. One of Freeman’s most popular story is “The Revolt of Mother”, which is a story that represents farm life during the nineteenth century. The main character in this story is Mrs. Penn, who is a dedicated, and loving mother and wife. Even though she is a dedicated woman, her husband does not appreciate her or gives her the respect she feels she is needed. Her husband did the hard work, while she was in the house washing dishes and cleaning like many wives during this period. Her husband keeps on promising that he will build her a house,

Valerie Martin’s Novel Property is an engrossing story of the wife of a slave owner and a slave, whom a mistress of the slave owner, during the late 18th century in New Orleans. Martin guides you through both, Manon Guadet and her servant Sarah’s lives, as Ms. Gaudet unhappily lives married on a plantation and Sarah unhappily lives on the plantation. Ms. Gaudet’s misserableness is derived from the misfortune of being married to a man that she despises and does not love. Sarah, the slave, is solely unhappy due to the fact that she is a slave, and has unwillingly conceived to children by Ms. Gaudiest husband, which rightfully makes Sarah a mistress. Throughout the book, Martin captivates the reader and enables you to place yourself in the

Almost all the characters symbolize a certain type of discrimination but the strongest characters that portray discrimination in society is Candy and Candy’s dog, Crooks, and Curley’s wife. Candy is an old man that worked on the ranch until he had his arm cut off and was incapable of doing any heavy work and his dog was too an old, smelly dog who couldn’t do any work because of his age. Candy and his dog are a symbol of how the old, disabled, or infirmed are not valued in society nor are they wanted. Just like Candy’s dog can be replaced by a new, young pup, Candy can be replaced by a younger, stronger, and more capable worker. Crooks is a negro stable buck and represents discrimination of race. Crooks has his own corner of the stable where he sleeps and puts all his things in because the other men don’t want him in the bunkhouse because he is black. “‘Why ain’t you wanted?’ Lennie asked. ‘’Cause I’m black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, all of you stink to me.’(68)” White people have power over him so if he makes any mistake he can be easily cut off and canned. This is shown when Curley’s wife shuts him down in a conversation, “Listen nigger. You know what I can do if you open your trap?” There is also Curley’s wife who represents discrimination of gender. Curley’s wife is a sweet, young girl who lives on the ranch with Curley where there are no other women but her so she tries to talk to the men. But since she is married she isn’t allowed to talk to anybody but Curley or she’ll be accused of being a flirt or a “tart”. Not only does

A form of cultural violence is racism which can be seen in the play The Room. In the play The Room, Pinter does not explicitly deal with racism, but he does insinuate the prejudice that the locals practised against the immigrants and the hatred, suspicion and distrust that they attached to all foreigners. An example of racism is Bert’s instant reaction on seeing the blind negro, Riley. On seeing the black stranger, Bert is so furious that he indulges in direct physical violence and beats him cruelly till he dies. Another instance of racism can be seen in the play The Caretaker. Davis in the play is suspicious of the immigrants or foreigners in Britain and he feels that they give themselves the airs that they are better than him. Throughout the play he refers to them in vilifying ways which reveals his racist attitude towards them.

In “Stranger In The Village”, James Baldwin discusses his experience visiting a village in Switzerland where the citizens have never seen a person of color before. On the other hand, Ta-Nehisi Coates writes a letter to his son describing what it means to be black in America through his own life experiences in his novel Between the World and Me. Frederick Brown discusses another meaning to being different when a human is in the middle of a war with a whole new alien race in his short story “Arena”. “Auto Erotic Assimilation”, an episode from nihilistic science-fiction cartoon series Rick and Morty, deals with a parodied version of an alien race war. The subjects of racism and alien encounters may be seem like two subjects that don’t belong in the same sentence, but they both have aspects that are extremely similar. People of different races can be seen being treated just like aliens from another world instead of equal human beings. Although alien encounters are often only seen as the work of fiction, I claim that alien encounters draw parallels to race and racism because they both portray how society views and treats those who are not the same as them as intrinsically different from and alien to oneself.