Othello Racial Discrimination Essay
Othello
The most important lesson that can be learned from Othello by William Shakespeare is that racial discrimination, no matter how subtle, towards visible minorities hurts everyone in a multicultural society. Firstmost, the constant stream of bigotry surrounding visible minorities negatively impacts the self-worth of those minorities. For example, once Desdemona asks her husband to reinstate Cassio, Iago plants seeds of doubt in Othello about Desdemona’s unfaithfulness. Othello then contemplates how to punish his wife for her act of adultery if it is proven that she is untrue. He thinks of sending her off to fend for herself and says, “Haply for I am black/ And have not those soft parts of conversation/ That chamberers have” (Shakespeare …show more content…
One way or another part of their identities will be erased. They will be shunned when others say they are not “white enough” or “black enough” or are “too white” or “too black.” For example, as Iago attempts to convince Desdemona’s father that she is marrying a black man, he tells the older man, “You’ll have your daughter/ covered with a Barbary horse; you’ll have your nephews/ neigh to you” (I. i, 110-2). Iago implies that Othello is like a horse and will be mating with Desdemona while their children will be as black as their father. As he knows about their heritage, to Iago half black is still black and he fits these hypothetical children in categories that he chooses. If someone is a part of a racial minority group but does not look it, they would be forced to endure derogative comments such as these or to laugh along I order to maintain any small amount of privilege they can obtain. Therefore, racial discrimination harms multiracial minorities as people will categorize them by one part of their culture, choose to erase the other, and erase a part of their identities. In conclusion, the main message from Othello is that the covert racial discrimination towards visible minorities is detrimental to diverse
The most important lesson that can be learned from Othello by William Shakespeare is that racial discrimination, no matter how subtle, towards visible minorities hurts everyone in a multicultural society. Firstmost, the constant stream of bigotry surrounding visible minorities negatively impacts the self-worth of those minorities. For example, once Desdemona asks her husband to reinstate Cassio, Iago plants seeds of doubt in Othello about Desdemona’s unfaithfulness. Othello then contemplates how to punish his wife for her act of adultery if it is proven that she is untrue. He thinks of sending her off to fend for herself and says, “Haply for I am black/ And have not those soft parts of conversation/ That chamberers have” (Shakespeare …show more content…
One way or another part of their identities will be erased. They will be shunned when others say they are not “white enough” or “black enough” or are “too white” or “too black.” For example, as Iago attempts to convince Desdemona’s father that she is marrying a black man, he tells the older man, “You’ll have your daughter/ covered with a Barbary horse; you’ll have your nephews/ neigh to you” (I. i, 110-2). Iago implies that Othello is like a horse and will be mating with Desdemona while their children will be as black as their father. As he knows about their heritage, to Iago half black is still black and he fits these hypothetical children in categories that he chooses. If someone is a part of a racial minority group but does not look it, they would be forced to endure derogative comments such as these or to laugh along I order to maintain any small amount of privilege they can obtain. Therefore, racial discrimination harms multiracial minorities as people will categorize them by one part of their culture, choose to erase the other, and erase a part of their identities. In conclusion, the main message from Othello is that the covert racial discrimination towards visible minorities is detrimental to diverse