Hickman, 1997: 1163. Degler made a research on “cases decided by southern courts in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries” and found that “blacks and
mulattoes were, as far as southern law and southern society was concerned, one and the same” Bodenhorn, 2002: 25. Thus, the Mulattoes were considered
Blacks and consequently, they got racial discrimination like Blacks did. According to the law of Virginia enacted in 1785, a Negro is “a person
with a black parent or grandparent.” Before the enactment of the law, “a mulatto could posses up to one half African blood, but with this law’s enactment all
persons possessing one quarter African blood or more were considered Negroes.” The law continued to apply “through the nineteenth century” Zackodnik, 2001:
433. The law confirmed that Mulattoes were treated as Blacks. White people usually considered a Mulatto to be “just another nigger” and
“drove the mulattoes into the arms of the blacks, no matter how hard some tried to build a make-believe third world for themselves” Toplin, 1979: 186.
Consequently, Mulattoes were refused “in any social relationship to which other Negroes are ineligible” Reuter, 1928: 40. Therefore, because they were
considered Blacks, Mulattoes experienced racial discrimination like Blacks did: they were refused in some social relationships.
E. Review of Slavery in the United States of America
Racism in the United States of America is related to the history of slavery in the country. According to Paul F. Boller, Jr. and Ronald Story in A More Perfect
Union: Documents in U.S. History , slavery in USA began in 1619 when a Dutch
trader brought twenty ‘Negars’ from Africa and sold them in Jamestown 1984:
24. Since then, slaves were very important in the United States especially in the South. The economy of the South depended on agriculture and the slaves were
needed to work in the cotton, tobacco, and sugar plantations. According to Current, et al, in American History: a Survey, in 1700s, many tobacco plantations
in the Chesapeake region employed hundreds of slaves 1979: 67. Nelson
Manfred Blake in A Short History of American Life tells about the tasks of black people: “Plowing, planting, thinning, hoeing, and picking under the broiling sun
were tasks which white men could do if they had to but which they gladly relinquished to Negroes” 1952: 160. Therefore, the tasks of black people are
“plowing, planting, thinning, hoeing, and picking under the broiling sun.” According to Blake, slaves were often mistreated: “Negroes might be
overworked and mistreated. Slave women might become the paramours of overseers or masters. Husbands were often separated from their wives and
children from their parents” 1952: 164. Thus, slaves were mistreated because they were overworked, were separated from their spouse, children, and parents
and they became the paramours of overseers or masters.
F. Theoretical Framework
To analyze the racism experienced by the Blacks and Mulattoes in the late nineteenth century United States of America in Chesnutt’s The Marrow of
Tradition , the writer uses sociocultural-historical approach.
It means that the writer uses the theories on social, cultural, and historical background of The
Marrow of Tradition. Therefore, the writer uses the theory of racism and reviews
of racism in the United States of America in the late nineteenth century, Mulattoes, and slavery in the United States of America.
The writer has formulated three problems to analyze the topic. The first problem is how the characters are described in The Marrow of Tradition. The
second problem is how the practice of racism is experienced by the characters in The Marrow of Tradition
. The third problem is how The Marrow of Tradition reflects racism experienced by the Blacks and Mulattoes in the late nineteenth
century United States of America. To answer the problems, the writer uses theories of character, characterization, relation between literature and society, and
racism. The writer also uses the reviews of racism in the United States of America in the late nineteenth century, Mulattoes in the United States of America, and
slavery in the United States of America. The theories of character and characterization are used to help the writer understands the characters in the novel.
The theory of relation between literature and society is used to help the writer understands that literature can represent society. The theories of racism is used to
help the writer understands the manifestations of the practice of racism. The review of racism in the United States of America in the late nineteenth century is
used to help the writer understands the practice of racism that was experienced by the Blacks in the United States of America in the late nineteenth century. The
review of Mulattoes in the United States of America is used to help the writer understands the attitudes of white people toward Mulattoes in the United States of
America. The review of slavery in the United States of America is used to help the writer understands why racism exists in the U.S.A. Thus, in the analysis, the
writer analyzes racism revealed in The Marrow of Tradition to see how it reflects racism that really happened in the United States of America in the late nineteenth
century.
Below is the diagram that illustrates the theoretical framework:
Racism
Racism in the United States of America in the late
nineteenth century
Chesnutt’s The Marrow of Tradition
-Character -Characterization
Results Sociocultural-
historical approach
- Racism in the U.S.A. in
the late nineteenth century
-Mulattoes in the U.S.A. - Slavery in the U.S.A.
- The relation
between literature
and society -Racism
23
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
The object of this study is The Marrow of Tradition, a novel written by Charles W. Chesnutt. The novel consists of 465 pages. It was first published by
Houghton, Mifflin and Company in 1901. The novel used in this study is published by BedfordSt. Martin’s in 2002.
Set in the fictional town of Wellington, The Marrow of Tradition tells about Southern society that discriminates black people and Mulattoes. There are
many white and black characters and some Mulatto characters in the novel. One of the white characters is Major Carteret. He thinks that Blacks are supposed to be
Whites’ servant. It can be seen when he says: “The old relations of dependence and loyal obedience on the part of the colored people, the responsibility of
protection and kindness upon that of the whites, have passed away forever” Chesnutt, 2002: 70. Major Carteret is a white supremacist who, along with
General Belmont and Captain George McBane, wants to overthrow ‘Negro domination.’ As the editor of The Morning Chronicle newspaper, Major Carteret
spreads the campaign against ‘Negro domination.’ One of the black characters in the novel is Sandy Campbell. He is the servant of John Delamere, an old white
man. Sandy is accused of murdering a white woman and he will be lynched because of that. In fact, he is not the real murderer and he is accused of the murder
because he is slandered by John Delamere’s grandson, Tom. One of the Mulatto characters in the novel is Dr. Miller. Dr. Miller experiences the practice of racism
