Toni Morrison was one of the greatest American writers of all time. She uncovered sinister tricks that white authors make when writing Black characters.
Throughout her career, Morrison gave us the truth about the white supremacist agenda — an agenda even some white people aren’t always aware of because it’s THAT twisted.
Morrison discovered that a lot of current Black stereotypes come from classic American novels – the same novels frequently taught to our children!
White people crafted narratives that presented themselves as all things good. In order to do this, they intentionally made us their “opposite,” projecting onto our image all bad things.
Why do white people hate being called white? Through their books and other media, they rarely mention the whiteness of a character – they want whiteness to be normalized, non-racial, the default.
This makes it easier to “racialize” other people, making race Black people’s problem. Morrison was all too aware of this.
Morrison saw white authors wanting to maintain the purity of the “American Dream” – a dream built on slavery, genocide, and colonization. But those realities were only an issue for non-white characters in white novels.
In the white imagination, the “American dream” was a God-sent reward for themselves alone.
This is why taking control of Black education is so important – the stories we read affect our imagination, and our imagination crafts the world around us! Morrison knew this and dedicated her life to crafting stories that center our REAL narratives.
Let’s honor her legacy by continuing to read her work!