The themes of oppression and discrimination in Kincaid’s and Staples’ work
Introduction
The work of Kincaid the Ugly Tourist and Staples work, Just Walk on by: Black Men and Public Space share two common themes which are oppression and discrimination. These two themes are evident in their work despite the difference in content contained in the two pieces of writings. Kincaid starts of her work by expressing how the county has been neglected and exploited in the name of tourism. As her books proceed she continues to portray the theme of discrimination and oppression further. From the narrations of Staples concerning his life it is evident that the theme of discrimination and exploitation is present. The works of these two have portrayed this two themes openly and continuously till the end.
Staples in his work expresses how being a black man in the field of journalism which is mostly dominated by the whites led him to being discriminated and looked down on many times. The first incidence of discrimination occurred when he was a graduate student. He was taking a walk when a white woman who was walking in front of him got frightened thinking that he was following her she ran away. This white woman believed that he wanted to harm her which was not the case (Anker 834). This white woman brings out the theme of discrimination that is present in staples work. This was the first time that he was discriminated due to his skin color, a factor that he could not change. He came to the realization that his skin color would lead to him being discriminated again and again.
Kincaid identifies herself with the powerless natives who are being oppressed by the tourists visiting her country. The theme of oppression is brought forth by how she refers to the natives of her land as powerless natives. They have been oppressed and power has been taken away from them by the tourists. Kincaid goes further and attacks the powerful leaders ruling the country for allowing something as ugly as tourism to take place. Kincaid shares her disdain for the ugly American tourists who their interest is not to gain more cultural experience on the places they travel or deepening their knowledge on the people occupying the lands they tour (Bouson 94). They fact that they travel so that they can feel culturally superior is evidence enough that they are discriminating the people occupying the areas they are touring, thus bringing forth the theme of discrimination that is very much present in the work of Kincaid.
Staples narrates another incidence where he faces discrimination, this time he was waiting for an interview and to pass time he entered a jewelry store. The seller excused herself and later returned with a security dog. This passed the message that he was not wanted in that place. He silently looked around then nodded and bade the seller a good night. He tells of another incidence a fellow black journalist was mistaken for a murderer by white policemen, they hauled him from his car holding him at gun point. He goes further to say that such episodes are very common (Anker 837). These policemen are discriminating and oppressing black men due to their skin color, Staples continues to make the theme of discrimination and oppression present in his work.
Kincaid express how tourists are oppressing those living in Antigua because they come to the place feeling more blessed than the residents of Antigua. She accuses them of thoughtlessly being pleases at the hot and dry climate of Antigua without considering the fact that the climate which is their source of happiness is the suffering of the people living there since there is no rain. She is bitter of how they pass the poorly built schools and hospital as they go to their hotels. She is attacking the unwilling tourists who have forgotten how their countries exploited the people of Antigua through unspeakable slavery and yet they cannot help but derive pleasure from coming to see how undervalued they are (Bouson 94). This helps Kincaid to bring out the theme of oppression and discrimination that is present in her work. These Europeans and Americans oppressed them and forced them into slavery and still they are oppressing them by deriving pleasure from their suffering state.
Staples continue to bring out the theme of discrimination and oppression in his work through narrating the incidences that took place in his life. He is discriminated because he is a black man, this can be termed as racism. He talks of how he tried to overcome this discrimination, as time passed he was able to control the rage that came with being misunderstood and taken for a criminal. He moved about with care in the evening and smiled widely at people who got nervous when they saw him pass in the subways mostly in the evening. When entering the building behind people who suspect him, he would walk past them to assure them that he is not following them. He ensured that he was always calm when he got pulled over by police while driving (Anker 837). Staples did this just to show that despite the fact that he is discriminated against, he poses no threat to his discriminators.
He continues to narrate that when he is taking late evening walks he whistles melodies from classic composers to reduce the tension and fear that people feel when he walked past or behind them. He views this as a good method of reducing the tension of those people around him. Those around him seem to join him in whistling the popular tunes. Those around him gets the message that he means no harm to them since, no one intending to commit violence would not be focusing on whistling tunes (Anker 837). Talking of how he overcame discrimination and the feeling of being oppressed is evidence enough that the theme of discrimination is present throughout his work.
Kincaid in her work talks of how the British once mocked Antiguans because of how they spoke, looked like and their behavior and now the Antiguans were secretly mocking them (Bouson 97). The fact that the British mocked Antiguans is evidence of the theme of discriminations. The British discriminated them because of their appearance and behavior. Also the fact that she shows a lot of hatred for the white man is evidence that she is hurt by how the white man oppressed and discriminated her people during colonialization. She places insults on the white tourists when she says that when one becomes a tourist he/she become and empty ugly thing (Bouson 97). She undercuts the superiority of the white male who discriminated her people and now because her people are free of them she feels that she can discriminate them to. She is bitter that her people were exploited in slavery (Ferguson, 180). The theme of discrimination and oppression is evident in Kincaid’s work and is brought out by the reasons she is bitter towards the white tourist.
Kincaid continues being bitter due to the discrimination her people faced. Millions of her people were made orphans and left without a land or a place to call home. Even their native language was lost in the process. This clearly shows that they were exploited and oppressed and everything they had was taken away from them. She says that they have been left with the language of the colonizers and colonizers use this language to justify the horrible things they did to the Antiguans (Bouson 101). The mention of the horrible things that were done to the Antiguans is evidence that they were oppressed and discriminated by these white colonizers thus, bringing the themes of oppression and discrimination forward.
Conclusion
Both Kincaid and Staples make the themes of discrimination and oppression very obvious in their works. In the work of Staples, the themes are very evident following the events that took place in his life, when he was in a white man’s land. Kincaid expresses discrimination and oppression the people of Antigua faced when the British were colonizing them during the colonial period. She also shows how the white tourists are taking advantage of the hot and dry climate instead of seeing that they are suffering because they do not have enough rain instead, white tourists are exploiting their situation to make themselves happy. Discrimination and oppression are present in Staples’ and Kincaid’s work and they have clearly expressed their opinion on the discrimination and oppression they faced.
Work cited
Anker, Susan. Real Essays with Readings: Writing Projects for College, Work, and Everyday Life. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. Print.
Bouson, J B. Jamaica Kincaid: Writing Memory, Writing Back to the Mother. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2005. Internet resource.
Ferguson, Moira. Jamaica Kincaid: Where the Land Meets the Body. Charlottesville: Univ. Press of Virginia, 1994. Print.
