Themes
of race and gender in Harriet Jacobs’ writing still have a strong presence in
American society. Jacobs’s life experiences and struggles were a result of
social views on blacks as well as women during that time. In today’s society,
black women still face hardships that were present throughout the time of
Harriet Jacobs’s writing. One of the issues that Jacobs discussed in her
writing was that of being a mulatto. She wrote in her narrative that her life
as a black woman was a bit easier than other slave women because she was a
mulatto.
During
the time of slavery mulattos were viewed as better than blacks because they
possessed more physical similarities to the slave owners. In other words, they
were whiter than the average slave; therefore they were given better treatment.
In addition, when slaves escaped to freedom it was easier for mixed race/fair
toned blacks to comfortably assimilate into white society because their
features more closely resembled that of whites.
A
person of mixed race or fair skin receiving better treatment than a dark skin
person is something that is still prominent in American society. Similar to the
time of slavery, people of society today often find black women who are of a
lighter skin tone and have more European features are more beautiful than women
who possess a more ethnically African appearance. This ideal of mixed race or
light skin women being more beautiful is still very prominent in our culture
today, and has consequently created division within the black community. This
idea of discrimination based on the shade or tone of the skin within a race is
commonly referred to as colorism.
In
September 2013 D. Channsin Berry and Bill Duke released a documentary about the
issue of colorism in the black community entitled “Dark Girls.” This film
interviews various black women of different skin tones and compares their life
experiences. It also provides historical background and analysis of where these
ideals originate from. The findings of
this documentary show how extremely divided the black race is because of the
issue of color. Many people who participated in the documentary openly expressed
how their shade of black has influenced their lives for better or for worse.
One
of the main issues associated with colorism is how black women view themselves.
Black women of dark skin tone in this documentary have expressed their grief
with believing they are not beautiful because of their complexion. There was
even a part of the documentary where a young black girl expressed that she was
displeased with her skin color. This shows how deeply the issue of colorism is
rooted into black culture.
The
“double-burden” of being black and a woman is something that is still a very
large issue in modern society. Harriet Jacobs often addressed these issues in
her writing and we can see that the issues of her time are still relevant
today.
Bibliography:
Berry D.
Channsin, Bill Duke dir. Dark Girls. Urban Winter Entertainment, 2012.
Film.
