A Tempest Racism Quotes

A Tempest was written by Aimé Césaire in 1969. This play is based on The Tempest by William Shakespeare. The play revolves around the theme of European colonization; however, other controversial issues such as racism can be found throughout it. Racism can be defined as “a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others” (dictionary.com).
According to The Ball Curve: Calculated Racism and the Stereotype of African American Men, “In America, the most zealous proponents of racism profess that those of European descent are superior to African-Americans. They postulate that those of European descent alone have been endowed with the capacities necessary to bring about civilization” (104). America has had a long history of racism. It was and continues to
Davis Pilgrim of Ferris State University. This quote directly relates to how Prospero viewed Caliban. He seen Caliban: as a savage by accusing him of trying to rape his daughter, as animalistic because animals are known to attack prey and his daughter was considered to be the prey, as destructive because raping his daughter would have destroyed her in a certain sense and a criminal because rape is a crime. Caliban matched all of these characteristics according to Prospero, so to punish him he was put out of the house and ordered to sleep in a cave.
This thought is not only considered racist it is also hypocrisy. It was actually more White men that desired the African-American women, when you look at the history of the relationships between slave owners and slaves. “Black men were kept from white women, but white men continued to rape black women without consequence”