Racism and slavery are two different issues. Whether Oroonoko is a novel about slavery or not, it is an Enlightenment-era depiction of nonwhite people, and of European attitudes towards them. To what extent does this novel represent a stage in the process by which, as Chris Rock says, "White people have gotten less crazy"?
Discuss.
Deadline: Monday (4/18), start of class.
12 comments:
There is segragation in Oroonoko. The slaves where slaves because of where they were from and what they looked like. It will not be for a long time that the slavery and segragation will stop. When some of the people start excepting Oroonoko for his intelligance and personality it show that people were becoming 'less crazy' and stopped looking at him as just a slave and some what recognized he was a real person as well. Not everyone in the story realizes this, but the fact that a few do is a step for the culture becoming 'less crazy.'
Truth is I balk a bit at being included in the "crazy white people" group. This feeling, however, is the genius of Chris Rock’s turn-around of cause. He defends his ancestors and, at the same time, gives the historically oppressive white race a healthy taste of the dehumanizing effect of stereotyping.
I think it's as simple as the fact that Oroonoko and Imoinda etc are not grouped into the whole "White Man's Burden" view of non-Caucasians. As we talked about in class, there are some funky discrepancies in the portrayal, but the novel also doesn't show the Africans' society as completely backwards and savage; rather Behn depicts a large degree of social complexity (ie surrounding the harem of the King and the emotional confusion ensuing after Imoinda's "selection").
I think Chris Rock has a real point here. But I think he's giving too much credit to the white people. (I'm Jewish and my family emigrated from Belorussia in 1907; I almost can't consider myself part of the crazy white people). I don't think that the white people have just become less crazy over time; I think they've backed off as minority groups of Blacks, Latinos, Jews, Arabs, Chinese, Japanese etc have entrenched themselves in society and become powerful. When the white people have realized they're not going to win, they change their tune. Look at the way the country reacted to integrating Central High in Little Rock in the 50s. At first, there was violent opposition and Federal Marshals were used to enforce Brown v Board. But as the intimidation tactics failed, the white people started relinquishing their self-administered power. To call it an independent course of white people becoming less crazy diminishes how crazy they were: they had to be influenced to be less crazy.
I agree, I think a way to apply "White people have gotten less crazy" would be to look at our discussion regarding the absence of savagery and barbarism in Oroonoko and Imoinda's portrayal. Rather than displaying non-Caucasians exhibiting little-to-no depth, Oroonoko and Imoinda show what Dema described as "social complexity" that, to certain extents, exceeds the Caucasian characters in the text.
At first what Chris Rock was saying seemed a little off, but then it all made sense. It really is true. O course, his word choice is not the highest of quality, but his message makes sense. Progress means that you have gotten better. Black people did not all the sudden get better. They are who they are. It's just like anyone else. The difference is that white people have come more to their senses and understanding that everyone is equal. No one is born a better person. The thing holding black people back was white peoples' ideas that they were better than black people, so they should have more rights. The progress that has been made is only the lessening of the grip white people held on the African American people.
I actually had no idea how to apply the idea of "white people being less crazy" to Oroonoko until reading some of the other posts! One idea I think is true is that although Oroonoko was black like any other slave, he was still treated as better than the rest of the slaves merely because he was attractive- a sad but typical human trait. So even though he was still in captivity and ends up being killed in an excrutiating and horrible way, the white people prove that they can sometimes be less crazy by not being so brutal and horrible to him for most of the story.
The very portrayal of Oroonoko as the protagonist is indicative of the extent to which white people were becoming "less crazy". Rather than just having nonwhites as The Other, a faceless, barbaric, homogeneous group with which individual white characters interact, here Oroonoko is capable of emotion and nobility and, indeed, comparison to one of the more resounding figures in history and literature (Caesar).
As I mentioned in my blog response below, the novella ends up having a marginally less racist view of slavery than other writings of it's time. This reflects on Chris Rock's idea that white people are getting less crazy. In this case it's more of a baby-step on the de-crazy scale, because there still is an element of utter racism. Instead of being a book depicting total segregation between the two races, it allows black people to intermingle with white people to a CERTAIN degree as long as they possess a respectable amount of qualities that white people value. Still crazy, but LESS crazy.
I think as folks have stated above that white people getting "less crazy" occurs in this novel in the fact that there seemed to be some kind of respect for Oroonoko and Imoinda because they had "white qualities."
With that said, I feel like Rock is failing to realize that it's not just white people that have been racist and ethnocentric, nor were white people the only people to segregate and hold slaves.
But besides the point, he IS fundamentally right on point about saying that we shouldn't say that black people have progressed. That implies they are of lower worth, and makes us more like the oppressors in Oroonoko.
I believe that "White People Have Gotten Less Crazy" in relation to the story in a way reflects that. Not to say that this story is the main source of something that shows the change in society, but to say that it was a thought. Racism and segregation I feel will always exist because everyone does not feel the same way in relation to race. It is important to read into a text that switches up the normal. The text challenges the way that and brings up the question of being equal.
I think Rock makes a very valid point in what he says and it applies to Oroonoko and Imoinda because of the way they were treated. Rock says that he doesn't want to say that black people have progressed because that would have meant that they deserved the treatment the got at one time or another. Although "white people have gotten less crazy" maybe be a harsh way to word it, that statement holds truth. Black people never did anything to deserve the type of treatment they received, so their "progression" is basically white people (people in power) realizing that you shouldn't treat someone differently because their physical characteristics are different from yours.
This is where Rock's interview directly relates to Oroonoko. Oroonoko and Imoinda were treated better then the other black people because they were more attractive to the Europeans. Oroonoko had white characteristics which made it easier for him to be accepted.
As others have pointed out, this novel gives Oroonoko and Imoinda European characteristics, this not only portrays a better understanding that just because two people are of different color does not mean that one is necessarily more fit to do something better than another. They all have the same capability to be able to achieve something. In this novel by giving them European characteristics she acknowledges that not everyone of a different color is a savage, they all of the potential to be great if their abilities are allowed to grow. By allowing their love to mean something more than just physical attraction she acknowledges the fact that other people are capable of reasoning and emotion. One thing that I thought of when Chris said white people have gotten less crazy is the moment where they cut up Oroonoko, now at days that would be considered inhumane and despicable. Society has become more understanding as a whole.
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