The Racial Prejudice Towards Black People Represented In “Désirée's Baby” By Kate Chopin, “The Passing Of Grandison” And “The Wife Of His Youth” By Charles W. Chesnutt

Abstract

This research examines how racial prejudice toward Black people is represented as a social issue in the three short stories, “Désirée's Baby” by Kate Chopin, “The Passing of Grandison”, and “The Wife of His Youth” by Charles W. Chesnutt. The study focuses on three dominant forms of racial prejudice, like colorism, paternalism, and racial superiority, as reflected in narrative elements such as characters, plot, and setting. Since this is a work of literary criticism, the authors’ critical position toward race discourses become essential to uncover. Hall’s (1997) theory of representation is used to analyze how meaning about race is socially constructed and how these stories challenge dominant ideologies in American society. This qualitative research draws its data from the short stories, historical background of the post-slavery United States, and other credible sources including academic journals and articles. The discursive approach to representation is applied to examine how meanings are shaped in connection with power and social context. The findings show that racial prejudice is expressed through exclusion, internalized color hierarchies, and the assumption of Black inferiority. In Chopin’s story, colorism leads to the tragic rejection of a child and wife, while in Chesnutt’s works, resistance and irony are used to critique both white supremacy and social division within the Black community. These stories reflect that racial identity is not fixed but constructed through language and culture. The study confirms that literature is a tool for influencing the public’s perception of race and fighting social bias in addition to explaining stories.