Racism In Kindred

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In the book Kindred written by Octavia Butler, the reader, along with two characters from the present in the book, are transported to a completely different time. One where slavery was still present and people were ignorant about the effects being mentally and physically tortured could have on a person. Dana, the main character, is a twenty-seven year old African American woman living in 1976. She traveled to Maryland, 1815, where she had to pretend to be a slave to save hers and her ancestors lives. There, Dana encounters Rufus Weylin. Technically, he is the main reason she got called to the Antebellum South in the first place. The first time Rufus was introduced to the readers, he was just a little boy, but every time Dana left, years went…show more content…
Rufus was born into a bad time period that did not value education as highly as the time Dana had lived in did. Dana was successful for being a black woman in the 70’s. While times were still rough and racism still existed, she got a good education, a job, and could form her own opinions. Rufus grew up in the South, he was uneducated and used his father’s opinions as his own. He never thought for himself until his father died and therefore he had to act more independent, yet still, he never changed his viewpoints on racism. Dana, even while transported into a time full of slavery and hate, still comprehended the differences between her and Rufus. For example, “I was the worst possible guardian for him—a black to watch over him in a society that considered blacks subhuman, a woman to watch over him in a society that considered woman perennial children.” (Page 68). Dana, due to being educated, knew that her and Rufus were different, more-so due to the time she was thrown into than race itself. But Rufus was ignorant, he just thought race was as simple as it could get, whites were more superior and black people were always going to be of lesser value than him due to the color of his skin versus theirs. Dana’s way of thinking had a better awareness of the situation she was in. Once Rufus formed a thought about a topic, he stuck with that till the
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