Racism In Huck Finn

Racism is the beast of society that is fed by ignorance and bigotry, and nurtured by the people’s need to do what it takes to be accepted. In Mark Twain’s novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jim is a slave who is constantly put down by a society that only sees him as property and Huck is a boy who goes against societal norms to help a friend. Throughout the article, “How it feels when white people shame your culture’s food-then make it trendy”, Ruth Tam shares her experience with society’s intolerance and disapproval of her culture and their power to then popularize what they once rejected. Through the minorities interactions with others, the authors expose society’s lack of respect and understanding of others thus creating an environment

Jim is captured because he helps the doctor heal an injured Tom Sawyer. The doctor tells the people that Jim is actually a good guy and should not be treated too roughly, “so every one of them promised, right out and hearty, that they wouldn’t cuss him no more. Then they came out and locked him up,” (Twain 287). The people going after Jim claim they are going to give him some respect, but this kindness does not last long at all. They say they are going to not cuss at him anymore, even announcing “right out and hearty” and the next thing they do is lock him up. Their kindness lacks meaning. The doctor tells them that Jim is not a bad slave and yet they do not give him the chance to prove to them that he is a good man. As a group, they accept him and when that gets old they reject him just as easily. They give promises in the moment only because everyone else is doing it. By doing things just because everyone else it, the people of society no longer has their own individualistic views. Society becomes a mass of people that all have the same views and carry out the same beliefs. Ruth Tam’s article also explains how society’s interest in her cultures “trendy”

In Tam’s article, “How it feels when white people shame your culture’s food- then make it trendy”, she elaborates on how society has the ability to insult one’s culture and then make it hip, disgracing and hurting the people of that culture. She believes that “the trend has reduced staples of our culture to fleeting fetishes,” (Lam). This temporary interest exists only as long as society claims it is the cool. Society doesn’t actually give the food or the cultures any respect for they fail to address the roots and significance of the “ethnic” food they are eating. They believe that these foods are new when in actuality they have been long held staples of another group. Their interest in these foods are superficial, they fall short when finding out what the food means to the people of that culture and only eat it because it is trendy. People only eat the foods that