understanding both social and individual relationships using the idea of “master-slave”

understanding both social and individual relationships using the idea of “master-slave”

How do we construct our understanding of the importance of race in contemporary Western society?  Specifically, can we bridge the institutional racism implicit in Du Bois and Gilman’s notions of “racial purity” on one hand, with the way Fanon and Baldwin explain how individuals deal with the impact and importance of racism in maintaining the status quo in society on the other?  For example, how does the “master-slave” framework discussed in class offer some understanding of both social and individual relationships?

By understanding both social and individual relationships using the idea of “master-slave”, we can bridge the institutional racism implicit in Du Bois and Gilman’s notions of “racial impurity” on one hand, with the way Fanon and Baldwin explain how individuals deal with the impact and importance of racism in maintaining the status quo in society on the other. We can, therefore, construct our understanding of the significance of race in contemporary western society by looking at how it has shaped society and its meaning and effect. People wanted some excuse for their arrogance and uncivilized society, so they invented race. They projected white skin color as the superior entity to maintain racism and control other people of color. Today, it’s about institutional racism were few minority groups will always be targeted and denied certain privileges. It reflects in almost all the spheres of life, such as politics, society, education, criminal justice system, among others. Most of the time, it would be implicit, but other times, it would be more explicit.

In institutional racism, Bois pointed it as modern society’s problem. He said that the problem was of the color line, the question as to how far differences of race—which show themselves chiefly in the color of the skin and the texture of the hair—“will hereafter be made the basis of denying to over half the world the right of sharing to their utmost ability the opportunities and privileges of modern civilization.” The race is also important in shaping people of color in institutions. Du Bois had also recognized institutional racism through healthcare. He saw the relationship between social inequalities and health inequities. He realized that the Negro death rate and sickness were mostly matters concerning social and economic conditions, and it was not because of racial traits and tendencies.  However, it may be argued that since racism shapes the lives of people of color, it would be essential to research the suggestion that racism impacts health inequalities.

The idea of health inequalities and certain diseases and deaths, according to Du Bois, can be connected to Gilman’s idea of racial purity. Racial hygiene would show that there is an existence of racial hierarchy and the connected fear that a lower race would contaminate a higher one. Institutional racism defines what individuals can and can’t do grounded on racial characteristics.  There is also white privilege where whites get benefits for being white, which comes as a form of individual racism. The idea of institutional racism can be connected to the “master-slave” notion.

Master/slave could refer to social death, which constitutes three elements, including gratuitous violence, which considers the body of a slave to be open to violence; the second one is that he is natally alienated, and a slave is dishonored in his very being. In racism, the white may treat the blacks violently. It has the utility of violence against the working class, to secure and keep the extraction of surplus-value and wage. Besides this, using the way Fanon and Baldwin explain how individuals deal with the impact and importance of racism in maintaining the status quo in society, it can give a different insight.

Fanon talks about race and how it divides the world. This is a different way that can be used to see the importance of race in Contemporary Western society. According to Fanon, what divides the world is what race one belongs to. The economic infrastructure also acts as a superstructure where the division brought by race is seen. He states that one could be considered rich sine he is white, and one is white because he is rich. Racism is an organizing principle of society. Class and race, according to Fanon, get meaning from one another. This can also connect to institutional racism and the master salve notion. Fanon’s imagination is particularly intersectional- race and class co-constitute each other via processes of differentiation that develop certain types of special barriers between the people of color who are seen to be poor and the whites who are the rich. Here, race segregates the wealthy from the poor and generates demarcated racial formations. Here, the importance of race in Contemporary Western society is dividing society into social groups according to race.

We can, therefore, construct our understanding of the importance of race in contemporary western society by bridging the institutional racism implicit in Du Bois and Gilman’s notion of racial purity with the way Fanon and Baldwin explain how individuals deal with the importance of racism in maintaining the status quo in society. To maintain the status quo, Fanon and Gilman talk about race and class, which bring intersectionality. The whites are rich since they are white and blacks are poor since they are poor, the master will fight to maintain the slave in the social death to maintain the status quo. From Baldwin and Du Bois, the whites benefit certain privileges since they are whites. This brings together the idea of maintaining the status quo, as described by Fanon.