Dangers of racism

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Dangers of racism

Have you ever wondered and try to comprehend how racism can cause drastic effects on the social life of
a human being? Well this is what we need to understand and try to fit in the shoes of the victims of
racism in order to make sense of this question. As representatives for the challenges faced by blacks
brought about by racism, this directs us to Kate Chopin’s Desiree’s Baby.

Desiree’s Baby is a short story written in November 24, 1892 by an American writer Kate Chopin. The
writer of the story seems to emphasize on the suffering of the innocent in society in them being victims of
racism. The main character, Desiree, after which the story has been named after she, is the adopted
daughter who was found asleep by the shadow of the stone pillar by Monsieur and Madame Valmonde,
who were the rich in the Louisiana and were basically known as French Creoles regarding to their social
class (http://www.google.com). The author does not disclose the origin of Desiree but regarding to later
evidence it’s only known that she is of African origin and that accounts for her state of being a victim of
racism. Despite the fact that the main character of this story found a good foundation and support from
the wealthy French who loved her and met all her needs, she still finds herself in an unpleasant position.
She thought she fell in love with someone whom will make their future great but they are cut short by the
effects of racism and that directs this essay into the focus of the dangers not only in the story but also as a
reflection of the realism society.

Arguably, Kate’s story converges on the idea of existence of suffering and struggles in different aspects
of social life. The existence of the Negro population may be viewed as a display for inequality between
humans in the society. Negros is symbolism of slaves just like it is said in the Desires Baby, where even
being a mother is a struggle. It is made clear that struggling among the blacks is part of life because the
story unveils with Desire found asleep at the shadows of stone pillar having been left there purposely.
The setting of the story itself depicts how much skin color matters in that particular community that is
what carries the weight on what is the identity of an individual is the pigmentation. “…there are
distinctions that attend coloration, differences of pigments that carry definition of social caste and even
more damning implications about the value of one’s identity “ (Wolf, 2011). To mention the struggles
that is very outstanding in the story can only make real arguments by focusing on Desiree whom is
struggling to be a good mother but also faces the injustices and criticism of her husband Armand. The
birth of the baby by this couple is said to have caused unconscious injury to Armand‘s home and his name
too. In return he forces his wife to return to her adopted home with their baby because the baby possessed
some quadroon characteristic and the assumption was that Desiree is black. The contrary is that Armand
turn out to be the carrier of quadroon gene and that he is responsible for the black origin of the baby. This
came late because damage was already done concerning Armand’s supposedly race and the race of his
own son.

Furthermore, it is now a common knowledge that the setting of this story is from the antebellum Creole
Community which is ruled by organizations based on the format of master ruling over slave or most
preferably white over blacks (Peel, 2009). The family level recognizes the lead of the husband over the
wife and not vice versa. There are three things that determine and define a person in this society and they
include sex, race and class. Race being one of the factors gives confidence to Armand because he is sure
that he is white hence feeling being in control of the system as a master. Being a master he uses Negros
as slaves in the plantation and rules over them but later realizes that he is also of African origin.
Dangers of racism

In conclusion, Kate’s story is directed towards women empowerment in that, women face criticisms not
because of their own wrong action but because of hypocrisy. It is normal that some things are
uncontrollable and no one can choose which race he/she will belong. There is possibility of criticizing
people of your own. The story also depicts the male dominion as the cause of social conflicts and slavery.
However reflection of realism of the common society is undeniable as existence of different social
classes, gender and sex is witnessed.

Bibliography
(n.d.).

http://www.google.com. (n.d.). Retrieved March 1, 2019, from www.katechopin.org>desirees-baby.

Peel, E. (2009, 02 11). Semiotic Subversion in "Desiree's Baby". Semiotic Subversion in "Desiree's
Baby", pp. 223-237.

Wolf, C. G. (2011, 01 25). Kate Chopin and the fiction of limits:'Desiree's Baby". 10, pp. 123-133.