The Hate in Me

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Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison, known as Toni Morrison, was an American writer best known for her examination of Black experience, especially Black female experience within the Black community. In 1993, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Toni Morrison's short story "Sweetness", published in 2015, narrates a light-skinned black mother who has a dark-skinned daughter whom she fears and struggles to love. In an attempt to demonstrate how colorism affects black communities, this story can be tackled from race theory and colorism.  


    Despite the fact that Sweetness' mother is a light-skinned black lady, she does not want to live a lie by pretending to be white. Her mother embraces her blackness, forcing her to work as a maid, where she is not treated with the respect that a white woman would receive. She realises she does not want to live that life after witnessing her mother's struggle to accept her blackness and live her life as a black woman.

Sweetness is aware that she is a black woman, but she does not want to confront the unpleasant realities of her identity. Sweetness knows that the only way to survive is using her light skin to take her advantages. 

   

     She can not accept the fact that she gave birth to a black girl, and she struggles to love her. Her marriage is destroyed because her husband thinks that she has an affair: "It’s not my fault. So you can’t blame me. I didn’t do it and have no idea how it happened" (Sweetness 2015). Living in a racist society is so difficult that they can not embrace their daughter's blackness. Sweetness raises her daughter by herself, and she advises her to be quiet and not to be sassy. This emphasizes how sweetness is ashamed and afraid of letting her daughter face the society. Sweetness' daughter, Lula Ann, on the other hand, succeeds in her life and profession despite her mother's colorism-based advice to "keep her head down." Lula Ann embraces her blackness by wearing bright white outfits to emphasise the beauty of her dark skin, causing Sweetness to admit that her daughter is stunning. 


   To conclude, Lula Ann grows up to embrace the beauty of her blackness, while Sweetness spends her energies to teach Lula Ann to be ashamed of her skin color. Lula Ann becomes so successful, and she is so proud of her skin color instead of hiding it. Although being brought up by a mother who suffers from internalized self-hatred, Lula stands up for herself and her identity as any woman of color should.


 

Comments

  1. Sarah HagarDecember 3, 2021 at 11:46 PM

    Toni Morrison never fails to amaze me; her writing is really impressive and informative. I have never thought from this perspective about black people, and how blackness affects them widely. They suffer greatly at the hands of white people as they treat them in a cruel manner.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fatema MuhammadDecember 9, 2021 at 10:08 PM

      I agree with you that Toni Morrison’s style is unique, and she has a brilliant way of thinking as she reflected her point of view from a new perspective.

      Delete
  2. Salma YaserDecember 4, 2021 at 7:02 PM

    It's amazing how this story puts spotlight on the struggles within the black community itself. This is represented in a few literary works, and Morrison did an amazing job portraying it as well, seeing as the impact of racism was not limited to the outer conflict between people of color and white people.

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    Replies
    1. Fatema MuhammadDecember 9, 2021 at 10:08 PM

      Indeed, I also admired that she focused on the inner conflict between black people as well as the outer conflict.

      Delete
  3. Nour HamedDecember 6, 2021 at 7:41 PM

    Toni Morrison has written various novels and stories tackling the African-Americans struggle. Stating the fact that kids are still abused even from their families as in “Sweetness” is extremely disdainful. I hope one day this issue could have an end.

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    Replies
    1. Fatema MuhammadDecember 9, 2021 at 10:09 PM

      I also hope so because it is a worldwide issue not only in America.

      Delete
  4. Salma MustafaDecember 10, 2021 at 3:10 AM

    This story is really great, and your interpretation is, as well. I guess all Toni Morrison’s writings are concerned with racism against black people and how they suffer in a racist society.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fatema MuhammadDecember 11, 2021 at 11:20 PM

      It is indeed a frequent theme in Toni Morrison's works, which makes them all the way greater. Addressing this issue is highly critical.

      Delete

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