Blackness

Othello’s blackness, but as the play progresses Othello uses racial comparisons to identify his own blackness. Things like his facial features (nose, ears, face,) are used to portray his appearance in relation to the other characters in the play. Shakespeare uses the detailed imagery of Othello’s blackness to place readers and the audience into the time period and setting of the play. The beginning of the play starts by creating a separation between Othello and the other characters. His…

in the United States, prejudice is pervasive and informs every aspect of our society. Racism, specifically anti-black sentiment, is not only alive in the present day, but heavily and disturbing prevalent. Post-racial societies don’t feature anti-blackness, deliberate appropriation of black culture, and rampant police brutality that is directed towards the black community. James Baldwin said, “to be Black and conscious in America is to be in a constant state of rage.” This is true. A…

In her book Playing in the Dark, Toni Morrison discusses how American literature uses distorted representations of blackness to better make sense of its own (white) American identity. She refers these black characters and images endemic to American literature as the “Africanist presence” (17). Through Morrison’s theory of the Africanist presence, we can better understand how Buffy the Vampire Slayer employs characters like Kendra and larger themes of monstrosity and darkness to uphold the power,…

Nights are a good point to begin our discussion of blackness and racial discrimination in the stories. While The Arabian Nights presents stories about the Islamic empire, it foists stories of slavery and blackness. Unlike the Atlantic trade slaves, slaves in the Arabian Nights “inhabit a different history from plantation slaves, and do not fit easily into abolitionist discourse: they were more frequently domestic or military.”(Slavery, blackness) In The Arabian Nights, there is not a single…

racial theory concerning “recognition Vs redistribution”. As African Americans struggle to find an acceptable form of blackness that is largely disregarded by mainstream white culture. One such example provided wold be that of the black artisan or craftsman, whom can not be true to himself in terms of artistic expression because white society rejects the expressions of “blackness” and would be unsuccessfully in a commercial sense and as such would be looked at as a failure in the eyes of a…

'black identity' or the meaning of 'blackness' had a tainted meaning in this society due to African American's place in history. Furthermore, as these negative connotations connected to one's skin colour were not challenged, it embedded society's mindset over the years, creating a false reality in people's minds. Numerous critics have come to the conclusion that the idea of race, or 'blackness' is an “discursive event” not an authentic identity. In…

spaces: the American express and the Queer Underground. David cleaning Giovanni’s room was his ill attempt to rid himself of the blackness that was taking over him due to his relationship with Giovanni, a Queer Underground rider. Even though David fights his submersion into the “Queer Underground”, it always hovers over him like a shadow. The shadow of homosexual blackness in Giovanni’s Room is visited by author, Richard R. Reid-Pharr in his journal article entitled, “Tearing the Goat’s Flesh:…

Though the white Perspective on whiteness is important to understand the Black perspective on blackness is also important to understand. Gayle also analyses literature written by black writers such as Paul Laurence Dunbar. When Gayle analyses Dunbar he realizes that Dunbar didn’t write about the Black experience. Gayle determines that black writers…

expectations as a black man performing for a mostly white audience. He could go here and loose himself in his own music. Sort of escaping himself as a celebrity, and surrounding himself with sound instead. Waksman talks about how Hendrix demonstrated blackness and his "brand" of music. He talks about Hendrix as a crossover;…

In this work we see that race is a very important factor to the play as it highlights Othello and his difficult journey of fighting within himself and with others. Referencing Othello by his black skin contributes to making the play what it is and to making it so successful. Throughout the play however we see that the term “black” is used in more ways than just describing someone’s race. The factor of race shows the time in history and how race conflicted with many things and complicated…