First Essay – Racism and Social Pressure

*note* *This is the updated version!!*

Racism has been a pretty strong theme within the texts we have read so far. We have read accounts from both sides; the racist, and the oppressed. But what if, due to pressure from others, those who oppose racism suddenly turn to ‘fit in’ with society? What if some of those who turned, are the ones who are the victims of said racism? We see these themes in Wheatley’s poems, and in Jane’s character in Death and the King’s Horseman. Social pressure can make a person do questionable things, and is heavily intertwined with racism.

You might be thinking, how are racism and social pressure connected? One of the best places to see this connectedness between social pressure and racism more than Jane from Death and the King’s Horseman. At the beginning of the play, it’s noticeable that Jane is the odd one out in the group of white people; she at least attempts to understand the ritual that is taking place that night and tries to convince her husband to attempt to understand as well. When Jane attempts to skip the ball that was going on that night, her husband Simon convinces her to go anyway. Despite trying to stray from the typical racism and lack of understanding in the culture she’s surrounded by, Jane is pressured into accepting the fact that Elesin’s ritual is “barbaric” and “incorrect”. This is the moment that that social pressure seed is planted, and we see that seed grow later in the play. That moment being Jane getting upset at Olunde at being so casual about his father’s death. That’s when Jane throws her understanding nature out the window and immediately begins to attack a culture she doesn’t yet understand.

Wheatley’s poem, On Being Brought from Africa to America, also presents pressure and racism. In this case, the pressure takes the form of religious pressure, but that alone is a pretty high form of social pressure. In this poem, Wheatley discusses her conversion to Christianity and realizes that her old, native African ways and beliefs were “wrong”. The Christian ideals she now surrounded herself with had convinced her that anything other than Christian (and in a way, anything other than white) was a bad kind of different and was to be judged.

Social pressure can have a bigger effect on actions and beliefs than one might think. Succumbing to pressure is usually due to some degree of anxiety and lack of confidence in one’s self. Neuroticism also plays a big role in giving in to peer or societal pressure. If you don’t know what neuroticism is, Psychology Today defines it as when someone tends to dwell on negative feelings, such as self-doubt, anxiety, and depression. Vulnerability to social pressure can also depend on the support system a person has. If they have a better support system (through parents, friends, spouses, etc.) they are less likely to fall to peer pressure.

Studies have been done just to see how easily someone can be pressured into something. In 1951, Psychologist Soloman Asch did an experiment that, up to today, is considered a very popular and classic psychological experiment. In this experiment, he showed subjects two different cards: one with one line on it, and the other with 3 lines of varying lengths. One of the lines on that second card matched the line on the first one in length. Asch had multiple confederates, or ‘Stooges’, planted within the test group, and some of them would give the wrong answer as to which two lines matched. Asch would then ask the unknowing participants which two lines match. In the end, 12 trials were done, and 75% of the participants gave the wrong answer at least once. In total, about 33% of the answers given by participants were wrong, even though they were obviously wrong. The subjects gave into social pressure just to go along with the Stooges. In the control group, less than 1% of the answers from participants were wrong.

This study was one of the most popular ones that showed how easily one could be socially pressured into something. Although racism is a stronger position to take than deciding the length of lines (and obviously a morally incorrect one), we see through Jane that social pressure can still affect her stance. I think Jane’s character highlights how scary social pressure can be; if social pressure can make you racist… where does it stop? Where does it end? The same goes for Wheatley in her poem; she denounces her own heritage and beliefs simply because society tells her those beliefs are wrong.

The subtly of the social pressure seen throughout Death and the King’s Horsman and On Being Brought from Africa to America just goes to show how easily someone can be pressured into those racist thoughts and acts, and how one can be pressured into such an immoral act. Jane seems to willingly give into that pressure, but how easily did she really give in, since we weren’t able to see her inner dialogue? How is it Wheatley is able to dismiss her own native beliefs and accept the beliefs of the oppressor? There may be many other factors that go into it, but social pressure is a big factor in both situations, and it is seriously intertwined with racism in both texts.

Cited Sources

“Neuroticism.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/neuroticism.

Laude, Patricia. “Psychology Behind Peer Pressure.” The Skyline View, www.theskylineview.com/showcase/2019/05/08/psychology-behind-peer-pressure/.

Dobrin, Arthur. “The Astonishing Power of Social Pressure.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 14 Apr. 2014, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/am-i-right/201404/the-astonishing-power-social-pressure.