Clotel Oppression Essay

Throughout American history, the African-American has always been systemically oppressed. Although it is heard to imagine, this oppression has affected the African-American so severely that three centuries later, African-Americans are still mentally recovering from slavery. This can be viewed through African –American literature two centuries ago and African –American literature today.
The oppression of black women is a consistent theme throughout generations of African American literature. In earlier text, black women are shown as slaves desperately trying to break away from physical bondage. While, in contrast, later text depicts black women free, but attempting to escape mental bondage. In both scenarios, these women display the tremendous strength it takes to be a Black-American woman during any time period in history. In Clotel (1853), a quadroon mulatto named Clotel is domestically oppressed. Like Clotel, “most of the slave women have no higher aspiration than that of becoming the finely-dressed mistress of some white man” (59), but Clotel’s desire to become a mistress ceases once she gets the title. At first, Clotel lives an ordinary mistress life with her purchaser, Horatio. He promises to set Clotel and her family free. As time passes, Horatio’s begins to faintly oppress Clotel and their daughter, Mary, by refusing their freedom and …show more content…
A yellow skinned female named Lorraine moves into Brewster Place with her lesbian lover, Theresa. When a few residents discover Lorraine and Theresa are more than friends, Lorraine and Theresa become outcasts in their community. While Theresa is not bothered by the residents’ disapproval, Lorraine is deeply affected. Lorraine’s desire to “share make up secrets…and be secretary of their block association” (1319) was now tarnished because she knew her community would not accept a