Analysis of Shakespeares The Tempest - Racism :: free essay writer

Racism in The Tempest     One offspring of racism that Cesaire surfaces is the proliferation of negative mordant stereotypes. Cesaire uses Prospero to expose the feeble, racist stereotypes many face cloths mete out about Blacks. Prospero, presenting a common White opinion, says to Caliban, It Calibans living quarters wouldnt be much(prenominal) a ghetto if you took the trouble to keep it clean (13). Such a education is clearly racist and plays into the stereotypes many Whites have about Blacks (i.e., they are unemployed and dirty). These stereotypes are White lies. The cleanliness of a residence has very little to do with whether it is a ghetto or not. Also, Prosperos stereotypical response puts the blame on Blacks for problems that were lastly created by European colonization and the subsequent employment of Afri ejects as buckle downs. Furthermore, it can he argued that Whites are the lazy race because they are the ones who initiated African slave labor. Anoth er stereotype that Whites often impose on Blacks has to do with a Black mans supposed desire to have sex with White women. Cesaire addresses this cut when Prospero accuses Caliban of trying to rape his daughter(l3). Cesaire is pointing out a classic case of White male guilt projection. History has clearly shown that more White men, purportedly pious slave owners in particular, have taken advantage of Black women, than Black males have of White women. The historical White power structures in America have facilitated the circumstances that have made this kind of informal exploitation of Black women possible. By using Prospero to accuse Caliban of laziness and intimate impropriety, Cesaire poignantly reveals the hypocrisy of Whites.   Another manifestation of racism that Cesaire draws to our attention is the lamentably inadequate educational opportunities that exist for Blacks in America Caliban indicts Prospero when he says, as for your learning, did you ever impart any of th at to me? No, you took care not to. All of your information you keep for yourself alone, shut up in those big books (12) While much(prenominal) a story is historically accurate in the sense that Whites seek to keep Black slaves uneducated so that it would be easier to manipulate them, the statement also addresses the more subtle, but no less evil, form of educational racism that still exists to this day. Jonathan Kozol paints a graphic picture of degrading despicability when it comes