Double Consciousness In Racial Formation By Omi And Winant

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1) Double Consciousness- Double consciousness applies to how Clare Kendry views herself. She is trying to fit in to the white community by acting white and going along with her husband’s resentment of black people, but at the same time she wants to be a part of the black community again. He husband states “I don’t dislike them. I hate them. And so does Nig for all she is trying to turn into one” (page 69). This is possibly the best representation of Clare. She wants to be part of the black community, but she also acts like or really does hate that it is a part of her, which is why she has tried so hard to become white. She even at one point states “I do think that colored people- we- are too silly about things” (page 62) in reference to the fuss being made …show more content…

Omi and Winant define it as “individuals who are actually ‘black’ by the logic of hypo-descent have attempted to skirt the discriminatory barriers imposed by law and custom”, which is exactly what Clare Kendry did (Omi and Winant 14). They then go on to discuss how the concept of “black” shifts from area to area based on politics, which shows that race is something created by society. Clare used this racial formation to her advantage because she did not have the characteristics associated with traditional “black” people by American standards. Another part that applies to Clare is the quote “Without racial identity, one is in danger of having no identity” (Omi and Winant 15). This is true because Clare created an entirely new identity for herself when she started “passing” for white, as can be seen when Irene asks about how she created a new identity for herself and Clare responds “I’ve a good imagination”, meaning that she lied to others about who she was and threw away her old identity and part in the black community (Larsen

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