Morrison 2

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Racism hurts. This statement is almost universally appreciated in modern day American popular culture. Television, films, and books portray racism as pointless, unnecessary, and wrong. This country has a history awash in racism, and it is still apparent in everyday life, even if most of us don't realize us. The legacy of racism is everywhere, and people still judge others solely on looks.
The intricacies of racism and discrimination are lost on our generation I feel. How many of us have heard older members of our families make racist remarks? How many of us have judged someone of a certain ethnicity without even talking to them or getting to know them? A lot of people like to argue that racism is dead, that minorities should stop whining because they have the same opportunities as every in this country. While this is true in many respects, I think that the legacy of institutional racism in this country is so strong that we affected to this day. How many fortune 500 CEOs are minorites? How many members of the River Oaks Country Club are not white? Indeed how many members of my beloved Kappa Sigma fraternity besides me are not white? The answer of course is zero.
The Bluest Eye reveals the extent of racism in this country. To me, it doesn't matter if this book is a word for word accurate indicator of racial relations in Depression Era Ohio. The fact of the matter is that racism of the caliber in The Bluest Eye, in which blackness is equivalent to ugliness, exists and that is something that noone can argue against if you ask me. The fact that a white doctor would say to students that black women "deliver [babies] right away and with no pain. Just like horses" (Morrison 123) does not surprise me at all. It does shock me, but racial relations in this country were indeed THAT sour in all the parts of the country.
This is why the novel is so effective. It transcends traditional notions about racial relations and attitudes towards race. Anyone reading the novel can relate to Pecola's helpless situation. Why? Because each and every one of us can relate to the "fear of being rejected of our appearance, abadonded by the group, left homeless" (Course Anthology 334). The pain of rejection, the ugliness of the pointless discrimination encouraged by institutional racism, and the despair brought on by one's own belief in their perceived 'ugliness' is felt in the novel. The mean spirited attacks of Maureen, the coldness of Geraldine, and the fall from grace of Mrs. Breedlove breathes to life the inhumanity of discrimination of people based on looks. Hopefully, the influence of novels such as The Bluest Eye can change society's perception of "ugly." For now though, the legacy of this country's racial history means that I view that as an idealistic dream, not likely to come true.