Beloved:Contemporary Connections

          In contemporary times, racial issues and tension are just as evident now as they were in the past. Throughout America today, despite much progress, racism not only continues but young adults are becoming color-blind towards the issue itself. By looking at Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Toni Morrison’s Beloved, a connection can be made from both novels in regards to these ever present issues and how the public today perceives them.

            From both novels, readers become aware that racism is always present despite everyone’s best efforts to forget. Characters, like Eva from Uncle Tom’s Cabin, blatantly treats all slaves like human beings. She acts ahead of her time, and dismisses the ideologies she is supposed to follow. For instance, Eva tells Topsy, “People can love you, if you are black” (Stowe 245), and even reveals that she herself loves Topsy. However, even though characters and people like Eva exist it doesn’t rid the world of racism. According to Laura D. Blackburne, the Chair of The Crisis Board of Directors in her article “American Racism Continues” she states, “For more than 500 years, racism and second-class status have formed the reality for Americans of African ancestry.” This is today’s truth. Through Stowe’s novel we see that the love and acceptance of one person does not immediately evoke the change we hope for. Even more so, in Beloved, we see characters like Sethe who wish to forget the world of racism that exists in the world. She does this by not informing Denver of her past life as a slave. Sethe’s strategy to move forward isn’t the best one, because “Thinking of yourself as color-blind can make it harder to see that America is a country riddled with systematic inequalities,” says writer Victor Luckerson in his article “Millennials Can’t Afford to Be Color-Blind about Race.” In this case, Seth’s actions can make it harder for Denver to understand that there is more to life than what her mother exposes her to. This situation from Beloved informs people that even today in 2017, people blind themselves to racism in hopes of protecting themselves and others, however, it only prevents someone from being met with the inevitable. Together, Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Beloved illustrate the unwavering view of racism that has yet to change to this day.

Works Citied

Blackburne, Laura D. "American Racism Continues." Crisis (15591573), vol. 121, no. 3, Summer2014, p. 5. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.uwc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,cpid&custid=s5805083&db=a9h&AN=97471587&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Luckerson, Victor. "Millennials Can't Afford to Be Color-Blind about Race." Time, vol. 186, no. 3, 20 July 2015, pp. 25-26. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.uwc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,cpid&custid=s5805083&db=a9h&AN=103735561&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Morrison, Toni. Beloved. London: Vintage, 2010. Print.