Racism has influenced social perspective throughout history, segregation rules and laws were created to increase the social divide between whites and blacks. Once racism and ethnocentrism become entwined in social views it acts adversely for ones personal experience, this depiction is represented by Jim in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Racism became further embedded into society at the introduction of the Jim Crow laws which became more than a set of laws but a way of life, the Jim Crow laws were extremely pervasive in that they influenced every aspect of life e.g. employment, marriage etc. Pre Martin Luther King era racism was rife, with it still influencing modern society which is evident in Beyoncé’s Formation. Racism and the representation of racism within the two texts I am going to depict is apparent, these texts will allow me to analyse the social effects of racism during different social periods. Beyoncé’s response to racism is more direct and hard hitting , whereas Mark Twain tackles racism within Huckleberry Finn through the small victories; however both represent the extensive influence society has on perceptions of racism throughout time.
Mark Twain uses his characters to present the common place of racism during the time his novel is set, Huck continuously views Jim as a ‘nigger’ throughout ‘It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger’. Huck still views himself as superior to Jim despite their growing relationship, it is nonetheless remarkable that Huck apologises which begs the question is Twain using Huck as an example or trying to make people do better? Huck’s preconceived idea of Jim being inferior because of his colour is something Beyoncé tries to tackle within her lyrics and music video ‘Formation’ She expresses the struggles of being wealthy and yet still facing pre conceived ideas about her because of her skin colour ‘I like cornbread and collard greens’ this misconception shows that despite essentially becoming free, they are still tied to stereotypical social ideals that act as reminders of what they once faced.
The music video for formation emphasises the discrimination once faced by black people and recalls the suffering they once faced, they looked ‘for a set that resembled a plantation house, rented a museum in Pasadena and decorated it to summon ‘Gone with the wind’ and ‘Twelve years a slave’ ’. Although Huck’s apology to Jim was apathetic it was still an improvement , Beyoncé similarly uses the plantation house in her music video to represent the development of attitudes towards racism in society by having ‘her art director blackify the house, hanging French renaissance portraits of black subjects’ 1 this shows the improvement of the treatment of black people and how equality is becoming more achievable.
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In Beyoncé’s music video ‘Formation’ we see a young boy dressed in a black hood dancing in front of a row of police officers, the camera then cuts to a wall that bears the words ‘stop shooting us’ this is a statement about police brutality, this bears similarities to the efforts in Huckleberry Finn where despite there being social improvements between black and white people, there are still setbacks for example the doctor is being gracious about Jim; however still perceives him as an object to barter for a good price ‘I liked the nigger for that; I tell you, gentlemen, a nigger like that is worth a thousand dollars—and kind treatment, too.’
Although he is not being cruel, the doctor still does not treat Jim as an equal. Beyoncé is targeting the severity of the issue of police brutality ‘Eighteen police officers have been charged with a crime this year stemming from fatal encounters with people while on duty’ Police brutality has been an ongoing conversation within the black community, and was noticed on an international scale after the fatal shootings of Mike Brown and Trayvon Martin. Although unlike during the time that Huckleberry Finn was based, there is now a huge following for the cause black lives matter, and unruly treatment of black people is not tolerated and is punishable whereas in Huckleberry Finn cruel and racist behaviour is very much tolerable “Well, I RECKON! There’s two hundred dollars reward on him. It’s like picking up money out’n the road.” The boy Huck passes fails to see Jim as a person , and can only see him as an investment their ability or lack thereof to see black people as humans is a huge factor as to why racism was so hard to root out.
A few years after Huckleberry Finn was set the ‘emancipation proclamation’ which claimed to freed black people; however this proclamation did not completely Emancipate black people from the burden of racism making it impractical for critics such as Leo Marx to want Twain to portray Jim as a free man at the end of the novel, Marx claims ‘The most serious motive in the novel, Jim’s yearning for freedom, is made the object of nonsense’. For racism to be historically correct within Huckleberry Finn it was practical that we see Jim have a glance at real freedom, and then see it taken away from him as it portrays the ugly truth of racism during this era and otherwise it would not be historically factual.
In Beyoncé’s ‘Formation’ the imagery of a sinking police car represents how the black community felt that they felt they did not have the full backing of the police , ‘I wanted it to be a police car to show that they hadn’t really shown up for us’1 in both Beyoncé’s Formation and Mark Twain’s we witness black people being disappointed by people they place there trust in , For Beyoncé It was lack of police support and for Jim he was let down by the society and government in which he lived.
