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Jake Eden IAH 207- Section 7 Spring 2017

An Elaboration of Social Segregation and Societal Norms The idea of whiteness is a created construct. This idea has been widely discussed as the creation of a social hierarchy which puts race into a perspective of having colored people seemingly inferior to the white race. Throughout time, race has been used to put some people in places of power and others in places of inferiority. As Marilyn Frye discuses in her work On Being White, the self definition and privilege of being white was created by white people, for white people. When examining the works of Frye, the idea of race being a social construct is very agreeable; this statement can be connected to ideas found in the literary works of Blackmon’s Slavery by Another Name, Mark Twain’s Pudd'nhead Wilson, and Bell Hooks Black Women: Shaping Feminist Theory. Marilyn Frye discusses the power derived from whiteness. As white people live their lives, there are certain privileges they receive simply because of their skin color. In recent history, these privileges have distinctly changed from segregation, to just regular discrimination. In history, African Americans have found themselves forced in to situations they have little control over. In a white society, white people make the rules and thus make them to benefit themselves. Frye writes, “To be white is to be a member of an in-group, a kin group, which is self-defining” (Frye, 114). White people are family in the same way that African Americans refer to each other as “brothers” and “sisters”. The idea of kinship is felt as they together feel the wrath of discrimination from their so called superiors, also known as the white community. Society will take any chance to establish this inferior as seen in the work of professional establishments, business workplaces and other government segments.

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One way the collective wrath of inequality is felt is from the court house. In society African Americans find themselves more commonly accused and committed of crimes then their Caucasian counterparts. As the court house places people in jails for minor offences, the idea of convict leasing can take these prisoners and turn them into true convicts. Although not all people used in convict leasing were African Americans, in most cases the court house and police force would target African Americans for petty crimes with the idea of filling the convict labor demand. As white people controlled the system they also made the rules. White society went as far as creating minor laws that target African Americans. These created laws made excuses to put African Americans in jail for the benefit of the convict leasing system. Some examples Blackmon discusses are, “disturbing females on a public train, abusive and obscene language and riding a freight train without a ticket (Blackmon, 112). In many cases these laws may seem racially equal. However, with a discriminating police force and a plethora of laws to be convicted of, the majority of those harassed and put to work were African Americans. Frye’s idea that white people set the laws is clearly seen. This idea is supported as white people find ways to profit off African Americans and create laws in which to increase their effectivity. As the self definition of kinship is further examined, it is seen that white society is the true determining factor of one’s racial class. As classes are fully developed, decisions must be made and lines must be set to who is and is not kin. As white society, they have full power of choice in their hands. One example of this choice being abused is seen in Mark Twain’s Pudd'nhead Wilson. In Twain’s novel, a white baby named Tom was placed into a life of servitude and bigotry as he was swapped for a black baby. After growing up as an African American, that is what he knew and became accustomed to. It was his home, family and where is felt comfortable. However, once the truth behind Tom was revealed in court he was no longer

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able to live the life he was accustomed to as an African American. Tom was forced into a life of racial status as a white adult male. Twain describes Tom’s adjustment into high society as: His gait, his attitudes, his gestures, his bearing, his laugh- all were vulgar and uncouth; his manners were the manners of a slave. Money and fine cloths could not mend theses defects or cover them up; they only made them the more glaring and the more pathetic. The poor fellow could not endure the terrors of the white man’s parlor, and felt at home and at peace nowhere but in the kitchen (Twain, 122). Tom sees and knows the truth. Although he is now accepted as white, he can never forget how he was treated as black. Being forced into this live he was never prepared for, he feels helpless, alone, and out of place. Being illiterate and poorly manned, he does not belong where society now places him. However as white society makes the rules, they scoff at the idea anybody would be foolish enough to want to be a slave and thus ignore his opinions. As Frye describes society, the true decision makers and holders of power are seen as the white class only controlled by only their own bigotry. As race is being recognized as a political construct, one cannot help but notice the similarities shown in the fight for equality faced by woman. In society, the social hierarchy puts white men on top and black woman on the bottom with white woman and black men both finding reasons to be brought up and taken down in the world. As black women find themselves on the bottom of the social ladder, they find persecution by both black men and white woman. In many situations black woman finds their lives one again controlled by additional parties. Bell Hooks recognizes this classification occurring on multiple levels and describes it further in his writings. She explains the African American Woman’s fight for feminism as:

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The condescension they directed at black woman was one of the means they employed to remind us that the woman’s movement was theirs- that we were able to participate because they allowed it, even encouraged it after all, we were needed to legitimate the process. They did not see us as equals They did not treat us as equals. And though they expected us to provide first-hand accounts of black experience, they felt it was their role to decide if theses experiences were authentic (Hooks, 12). As white woman take the role of superior, they become the new decision makers. As they work towards their goals, they see black woman as tools they can use and with that they must set standards on who qualifies as a mistreated black woman to be included. Black women are simply being used for their opinion to get their point across. In most cases, women’s rights would just place white woman above black men and leave black women at the bottom. Whether they are equal to black men is little concern to them or their cause. As it is seen, the idea of social decisions being made by the higher class stays prevalent, even when white men are taken out of the equation. As the ideas of Marilyn Frye are further examined, the clarity behind her words become emphasized and even more realistic. As she discuses the social construct of race and the power behind it her ideas hold up in multiple other works. As people get together they become more powerful with this power they create oppression and this oppression is continued by using their power. This cycle is seen in multiple situations throughout history and literature, such as the creation of laws and convict leasing Blackman’s in, Slavery by Another Name. It is also seen as kinship is forced upon a young man in Twain’s, Pudd'nhead Wilson. Finally, even without white men around to create this political construct of race it is continued through the new superior group in Hook’s, Black Women: Shaping Feminist Theory. The racial divide created in society

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has a multitude of social stigmas tied to it, and as history continues the best way to negate this is through gaining proper information. Information is the key to knowledge and can be properly found by reading information created by people of every gender, color, shape and size.

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Works Cited Blackmon, Douglas A. Slavery by Another Name. London: Icon, 2012. Print. Frye, Marilyn. "On Being White." On Being White: Thinking Toward a Feminist Understanding of Race and Race Supremacy. N.p.: Crossing, 1983. N. pag. Print. Hooks, Bell. "Black Woman: Snapping Feminist Theory." Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center. New York: Routledge, 2015. N. pag. Print. Twain, Mark. Pudd'nhead Wilson. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1999. Print.

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