Racial Discrimination In Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye

Muhammad Ali once said, â€Å"Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn’t matter which color does the hating. It’s just plain wrong.† Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye is set in 1941, close to the end of the Great Depression. During the 1940s, disputes and riots over race were frequent (â€Å"Race Riots†). Moreover, there was segregation in housing, employment, and education throughout the United States. There was a small chance for improvement in racial relationships until World War II began. World War II revealed the racial segregation and discrimination of the nation. World War II initiated many social processes that slowly led to vital changes during the late 1940s (â€Å"Racial Discrimination†). In Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, the†¦show more content†¦As a result, she fails to care for her own children and is harsh with them. Samuel has thoughts about running away and Pecola has a fear of growing up. Als o when Pecola accidentally drops the berry cobbler on the floor, Pauline does not comfort Pecola, but instead comforts the daughter of the white family. Pauline consoles, â€Å"Hush, baby, hush. Come here. Oh, Lord, look at your dress. Don’t cry no more. Polly will change it† (Morrison 109). While Pecola is in pain from the cobbler burning her legs, Pauline slaps Pecola and consoles the little girl. This shows that she prefers the white child over her own child. In brief, Pauline has no interest in her family and instead favors the white family that she works for. Louis Junior has a cruel behavior because of his mother’s racism towards blacks. Geraldine, his mother, forces Junior to only play with colored people, not black people. He has to wear clothing worn by white people, wear lotion to prevent his skin from becoming ashen, and cut his hair short. His mother makes him do this to separate him from the other black people. In the beginning, Junior wanted to pla y king of the hill with black people. However, now that changes because of his mother’s racism. The narrator states, â€Å"Gradually he came to agree with his mother that neither Bay Boy nor P.L. was good enough for him† (Morrison 87). Now, he feels superior to other black children. Ultimately, that leads to loneliness. InShow MoreRelatedRacism And Discrimination On African Americans1210 Words   |  5 Pagesand discrimination on African Americans through her frequent use of symbolism.2 In The Bluest Eye, an extremely important symbol is blue eyes (Crayton 73). Blue eyes are used to symbolize racially based beauty standards and the power associated with whiteness (â€Å"Bluest† LitCharts). In the novel, society believes that if a person does not have white skin, he or she is not beautiful. Pecola Breedlove falls victim to this widespread belief and longs to possess blue eyes. 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