The Obstructive White Privilege: An Analysis of Octavia Butler’s Fledgling

  • Gowri Devi B.

Abstract

The colour white always carries with it the semantic baggage of being dominant and the all-privileged group. Critical race theorists fight to achieve the goal of equality, which accord the whites and coloured the same rights and precedence. Critical race theory emerged into prominence as a discipline during the 1980s as a reaction of several legal scholars against the Critical Legal Studies. Critical race theorists aim in deconstructing the white hegemonic societal practices that silence the voices of the marginalized sections of society. One of the major tenets of critical race theory is the critique of colorblindness. The major problem that the theorists face as it operates within the realm of the American society is the idea of color blindness. The idea suggests that the American society is free from the shackles of discrimination with regard to race and that all its citizens are treated equally, for which they bring forth the election of Barack Obama, a person of color to the highest office in the country. Thus, colorblindness empowers the whites to ignore the existence of people of color saying that America is well past the era of racism and is a post-racial society.

Published
2019-11-15
Section
Articles