By: Alize Jackson
Lovecraft Country is a show that speaks about racism during the 1950s the show introduces this by adding monsters which represents the horrible treatment African Americans had experienced. In the show a man named Atticus was on the search for his missing father and while on the look for his father he brought along his uncle and friend while on the hunt for his father they had to deal with poor treatment just because of their skin color. How does racism affect the characters in Lovecraft country and despite the fact three main characters died how does the show still portray the main characters overcoming racism?
Ever wanted the ability to be someone else? Well in the show Lovecraft Country one of the characters named Ruby was given a superpower where she is able to turn herself into a white woman and still be a black woman at the same time she got to experience both sides. She used the power to her best ability. She loved the fact that she could be white and not have a care in the world. She went and got the job she wanted without being turned down because she was really a person of color. What she loved about being a white women was that she doesn't have to deal with discrimination she also didn’t get treated poorly how she would if she was a black women. In the article https://nerdist.com/article/lovecraft-country-body-horror-ruby/ the author Tai Goden discusses Ruby transition from a black woman to a white woman.
Jim Crow era was legalized racial segregation this denied their right to vote get a job or even have an education. It was basically “separate but equal” and those who deny the Jim Crow laws were sentenced to jail or death. Everything was separated from public bathrooms, parks, elevators etc. In Lovecraft Country there's a scene where Atticus, Leti and his uncle are in the car driving across towns to find his father and they are driving threw a sundown town and ends up getting lost a white cop stops them wasting there time to get across because if there caught in a sundown town white Americans are allowed to kill them and as their trying to get threw they can’t go past the speed limited so they're trying their best to make it to the next town before the sun goes down.The whole point of the Jim Crow laws was to limit African Americans from getting an education getting a job it was to take away their freedom and their rights In the article https://slate.com/culture/2020/08/lovecraft-country-hbo-sundown-towns-real-history.html the author Lawrence Ware speaks about the horror that black Americans faced.
The show also brings up an important part in history: the recreation of Emmett Till's death, a real-life 14-year-old, was lynched and killed due to a lie told by a white woman. The science fiction and extraordinary repulsiveness components are not genuine, verifiable. The setting in which the story is set is exact. This fact is that most of what's going on in the show are real verifiable occasions and even locations which is the thing that causes the display to feel relatable. Jim Crow's depiction of sundown towns was a reference to the residences where black American and other minorities were not allowed to be outside at certain times of the day, as the name suggested explicitly when the sun went down. These gave white supremacists a free pass to terrorize and torment black Americans found outside. These towns, also called gray towns, were all white communities meant to keep minorities that included Chinese, Native Americans, Mexicans, Japanese, and Jewish people. The show depicts the racist and pri-valencia treatment of the majority and minority in American society (Rozzan, 2021).Lovecraft country even mentions the Tulsa massacre and how it targeted one main group. The overall message is the issues of gender racism and discrimination of African Americans.
Lovecraft Country also brings up an important part in history: the Tulsa Massacre 1921 where a white mob attacked residents, homes and businesses that were predominantly Black owned. The massacre lasted up to 18 hours so many people were dead and homeless because of this all because a black man took an elevator for white people and a white woman accused him of raping her while he was on the elevator. In the article https://www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties/tulsa-race-massacre the author writes about what happened during the Tulsa Massacre and the aftermath.
Gender also played a big role in Lovecraft country they use the character Montrose and he shows us that he is gay. It was hard for him to come out and tell people, even his son. In the show there's a scene where they go to the past and Montrose is getting beat by his father because he is wearing women's clothing. He was trying to come out and his father did not want to accept that. What the show was trying to say was that during that time it wasn't “ok” to be gay no matter what skin color you were. So Montrose had to deal with being a black gay man. In the article lovecraft-country-source-montrose-pain/ the author Sam Stone explains the scene where they travel back and Montrose's story is explained. Not only was he a example of gender inequality women also had to face so much even colored women in Lovecraft Country there's a scene where ruby is working as a white women and there's a colored girl working there name tamara she is sexually assaulted by the manger and he tells her if she doesn't do what he say she would lose her job. This right here proves that she had to do whatever it takes just to put food on the table.
Lovecraft Country shows perfect examples of racism, Jim Crow laws and gender and the treatment that African Americans have experienced during the Jim Crow era and how strong they had to be. Also the behavior of each of the main characters. It shows How their opportunities were taken away from them because of their different skin color. This is when Ruby comes in and she's able to live life as both races and live the dream. Lovecraft Country also presents the horror in America during the Jim Crow era. Lovecraft shows monsters in the show which represents how scary America was for African Americans. The author wanted us to know the truth about the treatment they went through and how they had to stand their ground to make sure they were heard.
Alize lives in New York and is a student at Bloomfield College.
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