Racism/Stereotypes in Literature by: Taylor Pierson

Literature is no doubt the oldest form of cultural media thriving today. And just like any other form of artistic expression or expression of any sort there have been more the questionable ideas behind some of the great works by renowned authors. In fact, some of the books that are required to be read by high school students, among countless other books read by the public today, are littered with racial slurs and stereotypes.

Take for example, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which I myself remember being required to read in my own high school. First off, this book is littered with slurs offensive to African Americans, and I was told simply to ignore it. Also the only African American character in the book is named “Nigger Jim.” Now what is a person supposed to think about African Americans if this is the information they are receiving, from there own school no less which is supposed to be an authority. Not to mention, the character is like a kind of unintelligent gentle giant the whole time, not the most flattering portrayal of African Americans. For example, take a look at the way he speaks throughout the book: “"'Yes-en I's rich now, come to look at it. I owns mysef, en I's wuth eight hund'd dollars. I wisht I had de money, I wouldn' want no'.'" -Chapter 8, pg. 52 

This is just one example of an offensive literary work in public schools today. And you may be thinking that children that age are not as influenced by things, especially books, and this kind of thing will just bounce off of them. However, books can be a very strong force on any ones intellect no matter the age. If a child in high school has his teachers telling him that offensive slurs like nigger are just words and don’t mean anything, then have a book verify this for them, well this is a dangerous combination that can seriously skew and disillusion any child at any age in high school.

The power of literary works is even shown throughout history. If we exam the writings of H. P. Blavatsky, the founder of Theosophy and all around occult enthusiast, we see very frightening trends. One of her many works especially sticks out, and that his her The Secret Doctrine, the Synthesis of Science, Religion and Philosophy. Originally intended to be four volumes in length, she passed after completion of the second. The first volume goes into great detail about the origin and evolution of the universe, and has some very heavy Hindi overtones. But it is the second volume that is the most offensive and shocking. 

Her second volume analyzes the evolution of mankind, and her main point revolves around the idea of “root races” or a succession of human races with each succeeding race being a more complex and superior race then the last. Take a look at this quote:

                "The intellectual difference between the Aryan and other civilized nations and such savages as the South Sea Islanders, is inexplicable on any other grounds. No amount of culture, nor generations of training amid civilization, could raise such human specimens as the Bushmen, the Veddhas of Ceylon, and some African tribes, to the same intellectual level as the Aryans, the Semites, and the Turanians so called. The 'sacred spark' is missing in them and it is they who are the only inferior races on the globe, now happily -- owing to the wise adjustment of nature which ever works in that direction -- fast dying out. Verily mankind is 'of one blood,' but not of the same essence. We are the hot-house, artificially quickened plants in nature, having in us a spark, which in them is latent" (The Secret Doctrine, Vol. 2, p 421).

As you can see the claim she is making is that the Aryan race is, to her, obviously more superior then all the “less civilized” races. 

It is widely accepted that Adolf Hitler was an avid reader of Blavatsky’s, and strongly supported her idea of exterminating the inferior races to pave the way for the next superior race, an idea present in her second volume of The Secret Doctrine. This is validating my conclusion that literary works hold a great power over our minds that we are often times not even aware of.   

As a whole humanity must take steps to abolish this prejudice train of thought, in fact just recently Iranian leaders distributed some very disturbing literature in to a German book fair in Frankfurt, Germany. Some how they were able to send out a book entitled “The Jewish Conspiracy” and have it marketed at this book fair for many people to see and purchase from all over the world. ( FactsOfIsrael.com) Now the books contents are obvious due to the title, and the fact that such blatantly hateful literature can be produced and distributed by humans is scary to me.

These demonstrations of hate and bias are disgusting and frustrating. Man has to realize that we are all on this planet together; we are all going through the same troubles, asking the same questions, and fearing the same things. Some may deal with it in different ways, but that’s ok. The last thing we need to do is start to deny one another our respect and love just because of a person’s skin. It has to stop, not only racism in literature, but racist thought throughout the entire world. The key to making this place a beautiful world to live in, is filling it with beautiful thoughts of happiness and love towards one another.