Stereotypes in Recitatif by Toni Morrison Essay Example

Stereotyping, something every human does, can be both a positive and a negative. Many people like to believe that they do not have stereotypes about anything, but it is something that people do subconsciously. A stereotype is an overgeneralization of a group or class of people. Stereotypes can be helpful when it comes to making fast decisions or responding to events based on knowledge from past experiences; however, most of the time, stereotypes are negative influences on people’s lives. Stereotyping can be harmful when someone holds stereotypes against another race or ethnic group, viewing the other race as inferior. One story that showcases the subconscious stereotypes people have about race is the short story Recitatif by Toni Morrison. Recitatif is a story of two young girls of different races named Roberta and Twyla who got dumped in an Orphanage together at the age of eight. Throughout the story, the race of the two girls is never made clear, and the reader is left to assume which girl is white and which is black based on subconscious stereotypes. When it is read that Roberta is white and Twyla is black, the stereotypes used to come to this conclusion include, the snobby attitudes towards Twyla and her mother, the fact that Roberta is wealthier than Twyla, and the way the police seemed not to have much interest in helping Twyla when protesters surrounded her car. 

The reader’s first stereotype when assuming that Roberta is white is when the two girls’ mothers came to the orphanage and met each other.  It had been twenty-eight days that the girls had been at the orphanage, and their mothers were soon to visit. The girls were excited about this and prepared for their mothers to meet. They curled each other’s hair and put together bags full of candy.  However, when the mothers finally meet, Roberta’s mother does not seem to share the same excitement. Toni writes, “Mary (Twyla’s mother), simple-minded as ever, grinned and tried to yank her hand out of the pocket with the raggedy lining-to shake hands, I guess. Roberta’s mother looked down at me and then looked down at Mary too. She didn’t say anything, just grabbed Roberta with her Bible-free hand and stepped tout of line, walking quickly to the rear of it. Mary was still grinning because she’s not too swift when it comes to what’s really going on. Then this light bulb goes off in her head and she says “That bitch!” really loud and us almost in the chapel now. Organ music whining; the Bonny Angels singing sweetly. Everybody in the world turned around to look. And Mary would have kept it up-kept calling names if I hadn’t squeezed her hand as hard as I could.” In this section of the story, the reader encounters Roberta’s mother’s tense and snobby attitude towards Twyla and Mary. When Twyla states, “Mary was still grinning because she’s not too swift when it comes to what’s really going on. Then this light bulb goes off in her head and she says, “That bitch!” really loud and us almost in the chapel now” (Morrison); the reader may ask themselves, “what is really going on?” Knowing that the girls are of different races, the reader can assume that Roberta’s mother is an old religious, racist woman. Although this stereotype may be historically and presently accurate at times, it is not always the case that old white people are racist, and assuming so can be harmful to those old white religious individuals who are not racist bigots. 

The reader’s following stereotype subconsciously makes is that Roberta is wealthier than Twyla, so Roberta must be white. In the story, the reader is informed about Roberta being from a higher-up, more affluent neighborhood and that she is married to a rich man, and that Twyla, on the other hand, is from a poor community and does not have all that much. This ingrained view that minorities are poor stems from the ugly truth that there have been considerable efforts in spiraling minority neighborhoods into poverty and ensuring it stays that way throughout American history; this is called Redlining. Redlining is defined as; refuse (a loan or insurance) to someone because they live in an area deemed to be a poor financial risk. The Encyclopedia of Chicago states, “Like other forms of discrimination, redlining had pernicious and damaging effects. Almost always, the areas considered to be poor were minority neighborhoods. Without bank loans and insurance, redlined areas lacked the capital essential for investment and redevelopment. As a result, after World War II, suburban areas received preference for residential investment at the expense of poor and minority neighborhoods in cities like Chicago. The relative lack of investment in new housing, rehabilitation, and home improvement contributed significantly to the decline of older urban neighborhoods and compounded Chicago’s decline in relation to its suburbs” (Hunt). Because of acts like redlining and much more purposeful actions the government made to keep minority neighborhoods in poverty, minorities in America are still typically less wealthy than their white counterparts. Morrison exposes the ingrained views readers have based on the racist actions of our government and opens the eyes to many of the subconscious beliefs they have about wealth and race in a significant way through this point. 

Redlining and actions similar to it have led to something called white privilege. White privilege is the sad truth that white people in America get more opportunities and are treated better by police. “Based on information from more than two million 911 calls in two US cities, he concluded that white officers dispatched to Black neighbourhoods fired their guns five times as often as Black officers dispatched for similar calls to the same neighbourhoods4 (see ‘Answering the call’). Hoekstra wonders whether the factors that contribute to an officer using excessive force might be predicted in a similar way to how US Major League Baseball teams use sophisticated statistical models to predict whether a player has the potential to be a future all-star” (Peeples). This article also shows data displaying how black men are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by law enforcement in their lives and are also twice as likely to be unarmed. In Recitatif, Morrison highlights this sad reality when protesters surround Twyla’s car and begin to shake it back and forth violently. “The four policemen who had been drinking Tab in their car finally got the message and strolled over, forcing their way through the women. Quietly, firmly they spoke. “Okay, ladies. Back in line or off the streets” (Morrison). Morrison accurately describes the police as not having much care about the safety of Twyla as they would a white woman, ultimately causing the reader to apply an ingrained view that police mistreat minorities. This specific stereotype is not harmful to have; still, it is saddening to realize that because of police brutality against minorities, it is assumed in the story that Twyla is black.