In “On the Backs of Blacks,” Morrison writes, “Stability is white. Disorder is black”—a representation of how race is viewed in society. Morrison also explains “race talk”: “the explicit insertion into everyday life of racial signs and symbols that have no meaning other than pressing African Americans to the lowest level of the racial hierarchy.” Popular culture that denigrates and stereotypes black people have been an integral part of society for decades—in TV, movies, books, advertisements, and more that are exposed to millions of Americans. The concept of race talk relates to “Race as a Metalanguage” in that the rhetoric of race is associated with images that have nothing to do with race and into messages such as the aforementioned “Stability is white. Disorder is black.” Almost everything is somehow racially charged.
Today, so much of politics is framed in terms of race and targets individuals based on their race—politics in which the “contentious electorate” is “unable to understand itself in any terms other than race.” The last sentences are “Star spangled. Race strangled.” The statements juxtapose Greek immigrant Stavros' dream "to immigrate to America" with the American citizens that don't have the same opportunities. To many, race is an obvious, loud identifier, and it is an identifier that many use to make generalizations about individuals. But the terms in which many discuss race use strict definitions of race and fail to recognize the fluidity of race, strengthening the race-based hierarchies society has created and only giving more power to race talk. In the end, race stops individuals from being able to speak and being able to start to understand the needs of others.
Today, so much of politics is framed in terms of race and targets individuals based on their race—politics in which the “contentious electorate” is “unable to understand itself in any terms other than race.” The last sentences are “Star spangled. Race strangled.” The statements juxtapose Greek immigrant Stavros' dream "to immigrate to America" with the American citizens that don't have the same opportunities. To many, race is an obvious, loud identifier, and it is an identifier that many use to make generalizations about individuals. But the terms in which many discuss race use strict definitions of race and fail to recognize the fluidity of race, strengthening the race-based hierarchies society has created and only giving more power to race talk. In the end, race stops individuals from being able to speak and being able to start to understand the needs of others.