The characteristic of the people will effect their perception on an object. It is also a mental process having perceptions that happen in our mind when we
perceive an object. We will perceive based on our characteristic. 3. Need
Need and expectations influence perception. It seems suitable with the reality in which we often do something based on our need.
In addition, according to Bootzin, Loftus, and Zajonc 122, culture and motivation are other aspects that influence someone’s perception. They state that
experiences of a culture may lead its members to develop perceptual biases, a phenomenon called cultural relativism. Motivation is affected by fulfillment of
people’s need. The more important the need is, the more people are motivated to do something. It is a psychological process, which reflects the interaction among
attitude, need, perception, and decision of the person.
4. Racism
The purpose of this study is to find Marguerite’s perception about life as a black woman. Racism is one of the problems in Marguerite’s life, because she is
born as a black woman. Therefore, the theory of racism is important to support the analysis.
a. Definition of Racism
Based on The New Encyclopedia Britannica, racism is the idea that there is a causal link between inherited physical traits and certain traits of personality,
intellect, or culture and combined with them, the notion that some races are inherently superior to others. Under racism, a race is defined socially but based on
physical characteristics. Such physical characteristics have no inherent significance, but only such significance as is socially attributed to them in a given
society 360. Comas, in his book Racial Myths states that racism is quite different from
a mere acceptance or scientific and objective study of the fact of race and the fact that of the present inequality of human groups 52-53. Donnelan writes that
racism threats one group of people less favorable than another because of color, religious belief, or ethnic origin. It was once widely held that human beings
belonged to different ‘races’ of people, which were defined according to physical characteristics. Racism is rooted in the belief that some ‘race’ is superior to
others. Feeling of racial superiority led Europeans to colonize countries in Asia, Africa, America, and the Caribbean, and exploited their economies 1. So colors
of skin, religious belief, or ethnic origin in society cause racism problems that are significant for the minority groups of race. And those problems cannot be avoided
because there are so many groups of races in the world.
b. Racial Discrimination and Prejudice
According to Stokely Carmichael and Charles V. Hamiston in Black power 1967, discrimination is a deep from of unequal treatment based on race
that is prepared in social that is, social intuitions. Discrimination may include segregated housing pattern, redlining by financial institutions, and the practice of
minority groups being forced continually into low paying jobs 157.
When discrimination appears, prejudice, an aspect of racism will appear. Prejudice is defined as an attitude, usually emotional, acquired without, or prior to
educate against socially defined races The New Encyclopedia Britannica360. So, it means that prejudice is a part of discrimination. Prejudice is also an aspect
of racism so it will appear when discrimination appears in society. David Milner states that, if prejudicial attitudes have almost certainly
existed since groups of people first distinguished themselves from one another. Essentially, they are irrational, unjust or intolerant dispositions towards other
groups 5. So prejudice is naturally appears in society if there are different groups of people that have differentiate.
According to Beteille prejudice and discrimination based on race seem to be a common feature of many societies of both the past and present. The
importance of race in race stratification has been tightened by some factors. One of them was slavery 295. Thus in the past or in the present, prejudice and
discrimination known as slavery are a common trait in society.
B. The American Society in the 1930s
In the 1930’s the southern American social situation was dominated with the feeling of great depression, racial discrimination, and terror against the
minority groups. During the 1930’s the Agricultural sector was busy with over production, declining price for farm products increasing debts, bankruptcies, and
small bank failures. What all these weak point meant by the 1930 was that major sectors of economy were not increasing, business people were not investing
