Blog #5

From the novels read in this unit, Monster and Incognegro, which deal with cultural identity, race and white privilege, there are many connections seen. The most obvious one is the power of white privilege and how the blacks are seen as bad or criminals and that they are inferior to whites. Stereotypes are seen within both novels as well.  With Monster, Steve is automatically looked at as guilty of a crime because of his race. Before the jury can even learn about the facts of the crime, they jump to the conclusion that he must have had something to do with the crime because of his color. This issue is also seen in Incognegro. Zane Pinchback, also known as Incognegro, works as an undercover writer to get perspective into the whites. He is accepted by them because of his lighter skin color. In the book, his brother Carl is sent to jail for a crime that he did not commit and one of the biggest reasons for this is because of his dark skin color, even though the sheriff knew he was innocent. This shows that race plays a role in both books, especially within the judicial system. Another connection seen between both books was the fact that power was held in the hands of the white people. In both books, no blacks held any power nor were they given the chance to have any.

These books are able to create a “conversation” about the issues presented in this unit by discussing controversial areas. In Monster, it deals with a young 16 year old black child being put on trial for a murder that he supposedly did not commit. This creates conversation about this not only because of his race but also because of his young age. It really makes people talk about the judicial system. In Incognegro, Zane Pinchback pretends that he’s white which can be seen as creating a controversial conversation. Many wonder whether this is the right thing to do, pretending that you are another race, or if he really does want to be white and just pretends that he doesn’t like disguising himself.

Some similar themes seen in both books were racial stereotypes and white power.  Both books are told from a black’s perspective and in both, blacks are viewed as inferior to whites no matter what they do. The blacks are viewed as unwanted and criminals in both novels and in Incognegro it goes far enough that his race is even disguised. Also in both books, the whites hold the power and make the decisions for society. Black’s views were looked at as unimportant and as a waste of time.  The whites stick together to overpower every other race.

These texts relate to our discussion of power and privilege in many ways. In Monster, the power and the privilege of making decisions are in the hands of the whites because Steve’s attorney is white and so is the jury. They hold the power in making the important decision of Steve’s life. This shows white privilege because the power is based on white’s beliefs and views on the concept of race. In Incognegro, the power and privilege is also in the hands of the whites as well.  They used this power very strongly by holding lynching’s and KKK meetings. Nothing could be done to stop them because the white’s had the privilege of being their specific race so they were the overpowering force.