Equality is Not Over

This essay was written on March 21 2018 and is based off of the science fiction novel "Kindred" by Octavia Butler

Throughout the development of the United States historians have demonstrated a very clear link in the minds of its people between race and power. From the mass oppression of African Americans during slavery came many civil rights movements such as the Abolitionist movements of the 1860’s, the Double V campaign of WWII and to the Black Lives Matter movement of today. The novel Kindred by Octavia Butler takes place in both the post-civil rights era (the 1970’s) and the pre-abolition era of the early 1800s. Dana, the main character, has the ability, however unwittingly to jump back and forth between these two time periods. While in the 1800’s she meets Rufus Weylin, the son of a plantation owner in the south, and watches him grow up. Butler makes use of the sci-fi element of time travel from the 1970’s to the 1800’s to illuminate both how far society has come towards equality and how much further society must go. These travels cause an internal struggle as Dana sees the problems of the era but cannot stop it. The reader clearly observes an internal struggle in the character of Alice. In the novel, Kindred by Octavia Butler, the development and story arc of Alice, as shown by her actions, thoughts, and emotions, helps exemplify the different forms of oppression seen at the time so readers may better understand it and work against it in our own time.

Firstly, Alice falls victim to double ceiling oppression as shown through the intersection of both overt and institutional racism through which the audience can see a continuation throughout US history. Racism abides overtly through Rufus’s father Tom Weylin. After Alice helps a slave escape, resulting in her capture, she survives a savage beating as well as bitten by dogs and then sold to Tom Weylin who refuses to pay a doctor to fix her up. Tom Weylin’s racism comes to a head in the quote: “Daddy won’t pay for a doctor to fix niggers. Doc knows that.” (Butler, 147) Blatant disregard for humanity and the use of the n-word in the passage demonstrate the tone of the novel during the 1800’s where a slave’s humanity remains denied and sidelined. One of the best examples of institutional racism occurs when Alice, who up until their capture lived free, and her husband Isaac withstood punishment for running away from the Weylin Plantation. Another slave recollects their punishment saying: “They cut off the boy’s ears.” I jumped. “Isaac?” (Butler 149). Alice also endured punished by the state by way of whipping, letting dogs chew on her and selling her into slavery. When remarking on Alice’s wounds Rufus asserts: “Looks like they just let the dogs chew on her” (Butler 148). She, in turn, reacts to the beating by temporarily losing her memory and when Alice remembers her husband Isaac and what happened to him, she spirals into a state of depression. Unfortunately, the unequal punishment of African Americans continues into the modern day. The aforementioned hypothesis came about by way of a new report by the US Sentencing Commission that found that black men receive 19.1% longer sentences than white men for the same crime. Through the preponderance of shocking stories, Octavia Butler forces the reader to truly evaluate the modern day in an attempt to educate them to the continuation of racism.

Subsequently, both Alice and Dana resign to racism covertly as shown through other slaves resenting them for their intelligence, their jobs and their relationships with Rufus. Alice endures exclusion from many of the slaves for her apparent attachment to Rufus.This theme is seen time and time again in the book and even in modern-day racism. Another slave exposes this reality through the quote: “Folks treat her [Alice] bad because of Marse Rufe,” Nigel told me. “They figure if she’s been with him this long, she must like it.” (Butler, 207). Dana also experiences this exclusion as many other slaves start to shun her as well. Covert racism as a theme also occurs in the quote: “I went into the cookhouse and the young man who had his mouth open to speak closed it quickly, looking at me with open hostility. The old man simply turned h back. I’d seen slaves do that to Alice. I hadn’t noticed them doing it to me before.” (Butler 220) Both of them react by essentially putting it off with Alice even going so far as to say: “Who cares what a bunch of niggers think!” (Butler, 207). However, this helps reinforce the stereotype forced on both Alice and Dana that they think they hold office over the fieldhands. One modern example of covert racism endures in the form of the failing Detroit Public School System. In the DPS, (Detroit Public Schools) 96% of eighth-grade students’ test scores reside in the not proficient area in math and 93% of those same students remain not proficient in reading. This exemplifies covert racism through the number of people who enabled the DPS to fall apart to the detriment of the children of Detroit who now carry on at a disadvantage through the inaction of both the state and the federal government. Unfortunately, this is only but one example of covert racism as seen in society today. Octavia Butler uses covert racism to warn others to act as humble as possible and to truly help those who need it as seen through the actions of Alice and Dana

Lastly, through the character of Alice, Octavia Butler depicts the harsh realities of internalized oppression which eventually drives Alice to commit suicide and acts as a warning to other minorities not to give into oppression. After slavery claims Alice, she catches the eye of Rufus who preys on her and eventually succeeds in getting her to sleep with him. The audience sees this portrayed by the quote “She crawled into his bed at night” (Butler, 153). She longs to hate him for what he has inflicted upon her, but despite all that he has done she finds herself growing accustomed to him and the idea of their partnership. Exemplifying these thoughts the quote asserts: “ I saw her [Alice] smile at him [Rufus]—a real smile.” (Butler, 233). Eventually, however, the mental turmoil over what she thinks she should continue thinking (she should hate him) and how she actually does (she loves him) overpowers her. She commits suicide after a failed escape attempt. Dana describes her death almost unfeelingly stating resolutely: “ I saw that someone was hanging there. Hanging by the neck. A woman. Alice.” (Butler, 248). Through Alice’s actions, Octavia Butler truly represents the horrors of slavery and how oppression can drive people to madness. According to a report by the University of Central Florida, a modern example of internalized oppression comes in the form of preference in the black community for straight hair over natural curly hair. These preferences, the authors of the paper argue, endures due to the fact that “white hair” remains considered more beautiful than natural “black hair”. This causes specifically black females to spend tons of money on hair products and treatments to make their hair straighter and more “white looking”. While examples of internalized oppression such as hair do not have as large of an impact as suicide, Octavia Butler still uses it to help the reader understand it in a first hand basis so they do not fall into that same pit of self hatred.

Kindred came into being at a time just after the civil rights era when true racists, against the desegregation of school and equal voting rights, flew their true colors. Kindred serves as both a celebration and warning. It celebrates how far society has gone down the path to equality. However, it also asserts that society must go further to truly become equals. All of this comes to a head in the story of Alice. If individuals remain oppressed, kept down, or prevented from living their life as they would like, many people find themselves left in that situation that Alice lived and died in, choosing between a life of hell, or an escape from it all. Octavia Butler uses Kindred to illustrate the need for change, so go out and make that change.

Sources Cited

Butler, Octavia Estelle. Kindred. Beacon Press, 2003.

Jeffrey, Terrence P. “Detroit Public Schools: 93% Not Proficient in Reading; 96% Not Proficient in Math.” CNS News, CNS News, 28 Oct. 2015, www.cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/detroit-public-schools-93-not-proficient-reading-96-not-proficient.

Lopez, German. “Report: Black Men Get Longer Sentences for the Same Federal Crime as White Men.” Vox, Vox, 17 Nov. 2017, 10:00 am EST, www.vox.com/identities/2017/11/17/16668770/us-sentencing-commission-race-booker.

Pinkney, Corrin. “The Effects of Internalized Oppression on the Black Community.” STYLUS KNIGHTS WRITE SHOWCASE, 2012, doi:University of Central Florida.

https://writingandrhetoric.cah.ucf.edu/stylus/files/kws2/KWS2_Pinkney.pdf