Internalized Racism In The Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison

1017 Words3 Pages

Griffin Imelio
Pre AP English 10
Mrs. Bouyea
27 March 2014

Internalized racism is the self-conscious belief that one race is inferior to that of their own. Essentially it means that racism is implanted into people’s opinions of themselves because of society’s pressures and clouded judgment. In a chapter from, Tyson’s African American Theory, he talks about the way in which internalized racism is very damaging to ones self-esteem. This example is what drives the book The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. In this novel, two young black girls named Pecola and Claudia grow up in the racist times of the 1940s. The two of them, one more than the other, gets it embedded into their heads that the African American race is inferior to the white race. These characters exhibit internalized racism throughout the book with their struggle with society, their self-esteem, and their own identity as African Americans dealing with racism. This self-hatred is due to internalized racism.
In Toni Morrison’s, The Bluest Eye, she explains how internalized racism can damage a not only a whole community, but the entire youth of young African American girls. Claudia says, “Adults, older girls, shops, magazines, newspapers, window signs – all the world had agreed that a blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned doll was what every girl child treasured” (30). This quote shows how insecure the young girls are. They had a view that a “perfect” girl was white, and they were deemed ugly. They didn’t see that maybe to some people, that was not what the perfect person was. The doll represents what humanity believed was the ‘ideal’ person was. The belief that black people were inferior to whites was drilled into the minds of many young children at that time. To be w...

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...ck and link ends with each other. These two pieces wanted to show a reader not only what happened to these characters, but also how far we have come from this today. Kids today that are Pecolas’s age have much more confidence in themselves and are more aware about the world around them. Racism still exists in the world, it may never end, but the characters in these books were a part of a massive societal problem that lasted for a very long time. Morrison wrote her book for people today and people in the future to understand what it was like then. Her book was through the eyes of an internally racist girl, who didn’t see herself for who she was, but who the world around her deemed as inferior.

Citations
Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye. New York: Plume Book, 1994. Print
Tyson, Lois.Chapter 7.Learning For a Diverse World. New York: Routledge, 2001. Print.

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