Toni Morrison and Her Works

Toni Morrison is the author of numerous books that she has used to voice her displeasure with the racism that exists in white society toward black people. Her tale about a Black substance is one of the pieces she wrote that has had a profound impact on western literature. In her narrative, she employs a variety of literacy styles to explain how knowledge—in this instance, knowledge composed of writings by white people—is given more weight than knowledge composed by African Americans. She emphasizes on Blacks’ social and cultural discrimination throughout the chapter, which explains why the writings of African Americans authors are only marginally taken into account in the educational system and curricula. One of the literary styles that Morrison have utilized to express her views about the blacks is criticism whereby she disapproves Discrimination of people based on racial matters. Criticism is widely used in the story to push away African presence in their contribution to the development of ‘knowledge.’

Morrison does not agree with what the society believe about the African American literature. Additionally, she argues out that in a white-dominated society where the males’ gender is dominant, the African American’s have been suffered from literacy discrimination. Importantly, the author states that in since the US is a white’s man society, their literature is widely influenced by the white authors which in turn overshadowed the presence of black female authors in the US society. For example, the author states that American literature has been the preserve of white male views, genius, and power… (Beaulieu 278)’’. The statement indicate how the author criticizes the existing American literature which has given the American male authors a priority at the expense of Black men and Female authors.

Also, Morrison criticizes the US literacy which has significantly ignored the work of black authors in their literacy. The African American writings have been discriminated giving the writings a relatively inadequate opportunity to include their writing in the imaginative literacy of the nation. The author states that ‘’… black presence is central to any understanding of our national literature and should not be allowed to hover at the margin of literary imagination… (Beaulieu 279)’. The author criticizes the US literacy which despises the literacy of black authors while giving the white authors a priority in the US literacy. The stamen demonstrates how the US society and education system have widely been used to oppress people based on their race. The black’s literacy writing has been given limited opportunity in the US literacy as the author state “margin’’ which have in turn demonstrated how the whites push away the presence of African Americans in the US literacy (Beaulieu 278).

Additionally, the theme of racial discrimination is also evidence in the play Dutchmen, where in this case, a white woman (Lula) discriminated a Black man (clay) by his race. In scene one, when Lula is conversing with Cray she states that ”I bet you never once thought you were a black –gger.. (Baraka 24)’. Despite the fact that Clay feels offensive, he is tolerant of Lula’s statement. The statement indicates the degree of racial discrimination on race basis despite an individual gender. Lula is female, but she oppresses and uses ill statements against Cray because he is a black. As a result, the presence of Cray in the story is overshadowed by racism whereby Lula what to be dominant and at the high position because of her color while Cray is tolerant to Lula’s sentiments due to his low position in a white-dominated society.

Morrison also criticizes how the white has in the past taken the senior position in US literacy while giving insignificant attention to the role and responsibilities of the blacks authors and the Black race as a whole. The author criticizes the opportunities that have been provided to Blacks terming them as overshadowed and demonstrates that there is the significant need for the US literacy and society to uphold the position of the blacks despite the fact that for a long time their voice has been silent due to unfair treatment from their whites’ counterparts. The author states that ‘… enforce its invisibility through silence is to allow the black body a shadow less participation in the dominant culture body (Beaulieu 196).’ In this case, the author particularly demonstrates the whites as the dominant culture whereby the blacks views and opportunities are overshadowed and oppressed due to their color as the whites seek to rise and dominate the society as well as literature. In the Dutchman play, Lula makes numerous assumptions regarding Cray as she is racial biased. The play demonstrates a different perspective of racial discrimination whereby in a male-dominated society, a black person is subjected to racial discrimination irrespective of his or her gender. In this case, Lula is female, and despite being in a male-dominated society, she still manages to insult Cray due to his racial background. Lula states that “Is Warren Enright, a tall skinny black boy with a phony English accent? (Baraka 29)” In this statement, Lalu despises the communication skills of black Americans indicating that they have a funny accent, she is discriminative and discriminates Cray as she believes that he has a trace of the blacks’ history.

Additionally, Morrison has also utilized imagery in her writing to demonstrate how the white race pushes backs the black people in the process of acquiring power. Imagery is a literature strategy that is utilized by authors to give detailed information regarding an event, person or an object which in turn helps the readers to have a clear picture of the element being discussed. Morrison has utilized imagery in several instances to describe discrimination of blacks by the whites as the white strive to take the high position and remain relevant in the US literacy. For example, at one point of the argument, Morrison state uses imagery that is satirical to criticize the white-dominated US literacy, she stated that ‘’ championed characteristic of our national literature- individualism, masculinity, social engagement, versus historical isolation (Beaulieu 265).’’ Morrison imagery demonstrates how the whites and specifically the male gender have dominated the United States literature when on the other hand isolates the literature and history of the blacks in the US society despite their contribution in literature.

The Dutchmen play also have used imagery and satire to demonstrate the position of black men and women in a male-dominated society. For example, despite the fact that Cray is male, Lalu is not afraid of calling him names and describing him in an abusive language. Lalu describes Cray as a young boy trying to grow a beard and also as a man who is living in his parents home, also tells him that he looks like a person who reads Chinese poetry and take a glass of sugarless lukewarm water which is an indication of poverty (Baraka 17). Further, Lalu states that she sometimes lie in an attempt at being the top in the world. Her statement demonstrates the degree to which a white-dominated society can engage in antisocial behaviors in an attempt of acquiring power and dominance over other races. Her statements are satirical which demonstrates the position of the blacks in a male-dominated society. It is also important to indicate that throughout the play, Cray is tolerant to Lalu’s misconception of him. However, Lalu is not tolerant which further provides a clear imagery of the whites and blacks whose tolerances have been used to push their presence in the society as well as their role and responsibility in the literacy work.

Conclusively, Morrison story demonstrates the position of blacks in a white-dominated society and how racial discrimination has been widely used to oppress blacks and to push them away as the whites strive to achieve success and power. In her story, the whites’ literature is widely covered for ‘knowledge’’ while on the other hand, people and reader have limited access to writings that are authored by the blacks despite their relevance in the society. Additionally, the Dutchmen play further demonstrates how people of color oppress men of color despite their gender. In this case, Lalu is a white, however, throughout the play, she keeps insulting Clay who remains tolerance. Lastly, Clay’s tolerance character demonstrates how the blacks have been oppressed to the extent that they can fight for their rights which in turn is a strategy that has been used by the whites to push people of color far from power and dominance.

Works Cited

Baraka, Amiri. Dutchman. Alexandria, VA: Alexander Street Press, 2003. Internet resource.

Beaulieu, Elizabeth A. The Toni Morrison Encyclopedia. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2003. Print.