Race Relations in The U.S.: Post-Racial Society?

Despite prevailing public discourse that circulates today claiming that the election of Barack Obama signifies that the U.S. has transformed into a colorblind society, racism still persists in the modern day. Mae Ngai asserted that "race is historically specific...a confluence of economic, social, cultural, and political factors," and it shifts and changes across temporal and geographical contexts (Ngai 7). Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn and Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird reflect the evolution of racism in the United States from the nineteenth into the twentieth century. Although Barack Obama's election to the presidency signals that the United States has made progress towards becoming a colorblind society, race relations still remain tense. Institutional and structural racism still persist because of the historical disadvantages of not being white in a country founded on oppression and slavery.

Huckleberry Finn provides a grim picture of race relations during the nineteenth century when slavery still existed as a fundamental institution in the South. The friendship between an escaped slave named Jim and a white boy named Huck forms the central part of the plot despite everything Huck has been taught about the inferiority and danger of blacks (Twain 104). The first time Huck describes Jim, he articulates very negative sentiments about blacks, describing him as dumb, child-like, illiterate, and very superstitious (6). Although Huck himself is not racist, his parents taught him prejudiced ideas about blacks, which ingrained bigotry in his subconscious (Fiskin 2). Whites devalued blacks and viewed blacks as less than human, which Huck conveys when he talks to Aunt Sally about an explosion that did not kill anyone, only a "nigger" (241). Thus, deeply entrenched racism and white hegemony characterized American society during the nineteenth century, as whites viewed blacks as inferior pieces of property who lacked any intellectual capacity.

Despite the abolition of slavery, racism persisted well into the twentieth century as a result of the rise of Jim Crow laws as dramatized by Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. In 1896, the Plessey v. Ferguson ruling institutionalized Jim Crow laws in the South, which established a precedent for segregation in public places and stripped blacks of their rights to free speech and due process (Jacobson 240). The reverend articulates this sentiment when he tells Jem that "I ain't ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man" (Lee 149). During this time period, whites often exploited African Americans, and they did not forge personal relationships with them. The lynching of African Americans also became commonplace after the Civil War, which the Cunningham's failed attempts to kill Tom demonstrate (Lee 53). Lynchings became large public popsicles in which the mutilated bodies of African Americans were hung. Police rarely arrested the perpetrators because the underlying belief that the victims of the lynchings were less than human sustained and sanctioned the act. Mr. Raymond expresses this sentiment when eh discusses the "hell white people give colored folks, without even stopping to think that they're people too" (143). Although slavery was outlawed, racism persisted, which reflects how deeply entrenched bigotry remained in the American consciousness.

With the election of Barack Obama, race relations have immensely progressed during the twenty-first century, although the United States still has not become a post-racial society. Obama's election was the result of decades of black politicians such as Shirley Chisholm chafing against and oppressive political system (Asim 95). Because of his election, some people argue that the obstacles that blacks and other minorities face results from economic forces rather than from racism. These proponents of a colorblind call for the eradication of programs such as affirmative action, which helps non-whites get into universities, because they view it as "reverse discrimination" against white people (Wise 2). However, contemporary racism accounts for disparities in education, healthcare, employment, and housing as a result of the historical disadvantages of being colored (1). These structural inequalities necessitate corrective mechanisms such as affirmative action that will allow America to achieve economic equality and social justice for all citizens.

The evolution of American society with regards to racism has shown gradual progress from the nineteenth century into the present-day. Stereotypes attributed to African Americans centuries ago have shaped notions about race despite not reflecting reality. Exposure to such ideas further influence how nonwhites have been treated. Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird dramatize how African Americans have historically been feared and viewed as less than human. As a result, they have been exploited, abused, and lynched by perpetrators who did not receive punishment for their actions. Much progress with regards to eradicating racism has been made as signaled by the election of Barack. However, minorities still suffer from the historical disadvantages of prior generations for not being white, which is evident in various sectors of society. Thus, the U.S. has not become a colorblind society.

Works Cited

Asim, Jabari. What Obama Means: --For Our Culture, Our Politics, Our Future. New York: William Morrow, 2009.

Fiskin, Shelley Fisher. "Teaching Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Huck Finn Teacher's Guide/Culture Shock. 1999. PBS. 4 Apr. 2005 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/teachers/huck/essay.html

Jacobson, Matthew Frye. Whiteness of a Different Color: European Immigrants And the Alchemy of Race. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1998.

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1960.

Ngai, Mae M.. Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens And The Making of Modern America. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2004.

Twain, Mark. Huckleberry Finn. London: Evans Bros., 2007.

Wise, Tim J.. Affirmative Action: Racial Preference in Black And White. New York: Routledge, 2005.