Blog 3: The Perpetual Struggle of Being Black

In the contemporary era, it is sadly all too common to hear stories of Black people being unfairly treated due to the colour of their skin. From the cases of the Rodney King riots in 1992 as well as the George Floyd riots in 2020, stories of abuse and repression towards Black people has never gone away. In the movie “Get Out” as well as the text “The Skin we’re in,” the creators Jordan Peele and Desmond Cole demonstrated the struggles black individuals must deal living in a white supremacist society.

For starters, lets analyze the struggles Chris, the protagonist, faces in the movie “Get Out.” Throughout we can time and time again examples of the racism Chris faces. When the police talk to them about the collision Chris and his girlfriend Rose have with a deer, the police officer asks for Chris’ id, despite the fact he wasn’t driving. Chris, being used to this type of treatment, offers to give his id to the police officer. However, Rose fights back against the policeman’s orders, calling them “bullshit.” Although this might seem like a minor example, Chris’ attitude towards the police officers request speaks volumes. It is abundantly clear through that example that Chris is accustomed to being accosted by police and therefore expects it to happen. Due to the white supremacist hierarchy within society, Black people, like Chris, are treated unfairly relative to white people. Systematic racism is sadly all to common nowadays and I cannot imagine a police officer asking the same of a white person. This doesn’t only occur with the police officer though; it also happens with Rose’s family. When meeting Rose’s family, many of them often ask him uncomfortable questions. Some, even touch him. What’s even more bizarre however, is Chris’ reaction to being touched and asked odd questions. Chris, seems to brush these things off, telling himself that these are old white people and that they are therefore not used to seeing Black people. This is because Chris is used to being treated differently because of the colour of his skin. Throughout the movie we can see flagrant examples of racism and microaggressions be shrugged off by Chris as being normal. This exact same treatment can be seen in the text “The Skin were in” by Desmond Cole. In this text, Desmond often talks about how when riding the bus people would oftentimes ask him if he was related to other Black people, as many white people think Black people look the same. When Desmond Cole met up with many other Black people to support John, he states that many of them were not surprised by what had occurred with John. Many of them have had similar experiences with law enforcement and are therefore unsurprised that the police would be overly violent towards a Black man. These microaggressions seen in “The Skin were in” and “Get Out” demonstrate how society is inherently white supremacist, as I could never imagine being treated this way as someone who is white. If I were touched or asked very odd questions I would be personally offended and say some quite unsavory things. However, for someone who is black, they are used to it and consider this treatment to be normal in their lives. This normalization of subtle racism is what makes our society inherently racist and causes society to normalize Black people being treated this way, often resulting in acts of violence towards Black people to be so flagrant they cause people to revolt in protest.

To continue, we can see throughout the text “The Skin were in” as well as in the movie “Get Out” we can see the difficulties both characters face in terms of identity and belonging. In “The Skin Were In” by Desmond Cole, we can see that he often questions his place within Canadian society. Desmond notes that in grade one he became conscious of his “Blackness” when he discussed how worn down all the cream-coloured (white skin) crayons were and how the tree-trunk brown was his favourite colour to draw himself. As well as this, he talks about how when he visited his friends, they would watch tv, ad, how on tv there were very few Black people. When a Black person would appear on the tv, his white friends would often turn to Desmond and say it looks like him. Here, we can see that Desmond finds himself questioning his place within society, and states that he began to associate his blackness with shame and isolation. We can also see this in “Get Out,” where Chris feels as if he does not belong within Rose’s family. He feels alienated when he is with them and feels unable to be accepted by even black members of the family. He is seen, like Desmond was, for his race and not for who he is, and this makes him feel out of place within Rose’s family. We can see that in both examples black people are often a minority in society. Because of this, they stick out like a sore thumb in a white population, leading to black people questioning their places within society. This is because our societies are inherently white supremacist and have no need to consider or represent the minorities within our society, as most famous and successful people are white. Black people cannot fit in no matter how much they try, and this can be seen in the text “The Skin We’re In.” The only time Desmond Cole felt as if he was in a group in which he belonged was when he and many other Black people visited John to help him. The reason is because in that group everyone can empathize and understand one another with their lived experience as well as the fact that they have all had similar experiences like John did with the authorities.

In conclusion, we can see in these two works the struggles Black people go through. Whether it be finding their place in society or being treated differently for being black, we can see the different ways in which black people are mistreated within our modern white supremacist societies. These stories, are sadly, all to common and are a representation of the hurdles and difficulties black individuals must deal with relative to the lives of white people.

Bibliography:

Cole, Desmond. “‘negro frolicks (January).’” The Skin We’re In, Doubleday Canada, 2020, pp. 1–17

Peele, Jordan, et al. Get Out. Universal Pictures, 2017.