Abstract

This paper is written to shed light on racism in general and internalized racism in particular. The application of the study of internalized racism on Mrs. Turner in Hurston’s novel illuminates a very significant fact about the Black females now and then. Under racism which is the white imperialism and superiority, the back women have been programmed to believe in White standards of beauty and this latter is called internalized racism. Hurston so skillfully characterizes Mrs.Turner who is psychologically oppressed under this system of internalized racism. Her esteem of white skin and straight hair while she is black with kinky hair oppresses her because of her being a colored woman. Thus Race and gender converge on this issue of evaluating beauty and this purports to the belief of Black feminists that women are oppressed not only because they are women but also because they are black women.

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