Effects of Discrimination in Don't Explain

Introduction

    Discrimination has been rooted in American society since our country's inception.  Over time, we have come closer to equality, but we still have never truly achieved this ideal.  In the 1950's, Americans of minority race and sexual orientation experienced discrimination throughout all facets of their lives, including job opportunities.  They also faced enormous hurdles in wealth and income inequality. These topics are explored in Jewell Gomez's work, "Don't Explain."  We will discuss topics such as racial wealth inequality, sexual-orientation discrimination, capitalism's exacerbation of these issues, and how these come together in the story. 

Wealth Inequality

Wealth Gap (6)

First, we will discuss some historical context for racial inequality based on wealth statistics.  Following the abolishment of slavery, the wealth gap between black and white Americans was 60 to 1 (1).  Over the years, this gap steadily tightened, plateauing around the 1960s.  Around the 1950s, the general timeframe of "Don't Explain," this gap had lowered to 7 to 1 (1).  This means that for every dollar the average white American had, a black American had 30 cents.  This resulted in more poor living conditions and an inability to afford the same commodities.  This idea can be seen in "Don't Explain" when Letty describes Delia's apartment: "The apartment was located halfway up Blue Hill Avenue in an area where a few blacks had been permitted to rent" (5).  Just as the white population used their status as a majority to hoard the country's wealth, they hoarded the more developed neighborhoods as well.  By restricting non-white ownership of wealth and housing, they were perpetuating racial inequality, which I believe Gomez wanted to communicate to readers through her work.  When examining from a Marxist perspective, there is an immediate flaw in a capitalist society that operates this way.  In a society that views everything as a commodity, and individuals have less access to commodities based on a characteristic they cannot control, like race, there will always be inherent inequality.

Employment Inequality

    Inequality did not only exist in terms of wealth, but in employment as well.  In the 1950s, it was statistically much easier for white Americans to gain employment than black Americans.  Even when black Americans could find employment, they were usually in labor or service fields.  For example, service industry jobs, like the waitstaff in "Don't Explain,"  were held by 32.4% of non-white Americans, compared to only 21% of white Americans.  Meanwhile, "managers, officials, and proprietors, excluding farm" positions were 9.8% white , compared to a disparaging 1.5% non-white (3).  This exclusion of black Americans from higher paying positions contributes not only to the wealth disparity we previously discussed, but perpetuated the discrimination that caused it by preventing minority members from obtaining positions of influence and power.  Gomez chooses to display this aspect of inequality through the relationship between Aristotle, the white club owner, and the black waitstaff.  After hearing that Aristotle had arrived at the club, Letty stops her break before it was completed because, "she knew white people didn't like to see their employees sitting down, especially with their shoes off."  Then, when Delia asks why her break was so short, and Letty replies that Aristotle had come in, Delia simply replies, "Uh oh, let me git this steak out there" (5).  This shows an understood relationship between the waitstaff that Aristotle holds power over the employees of the 411.  I believe Gomez chose to include this in the story in order to display the racial power dynamics of employment in the 1950s, with white citizens holding managerial positions, and black citizens holding service positions.  Marxist perspective views the capitalist belief in competition as a hinderance to society, as only the most unethical people rise to the top.  The racial inequality of employment positions exacerbates this idea, with the quality ensuring high-ranking jobs not being merit or intelligence, but the color of an individual's skin.

Homosexual Discrimination

Lavender Scare (4)

An individual's race was not the only aspect of their character that was scrutinized at this time, but their sexuality as well.  In the 1950s, thousands of homosexual government workers were forced out of their jobs in what is now known as "The Lavender Scare"(2).  To accomplish this, Senator Joseph McCarthy utilized America's fear amidst the Cold War by equating homosexuals to communists.  He stated that homosexuals had "peculiar mental twists" that made them more susceptible to communism (4).  In 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower would pass an executive order than named "sexual perversion" as a fair cause to terminate one's job  (2).  This shows that the 1950s was not just an era with inequality between citizens, but with discrimination against LGBTQ+ members that was backed by legislation.  LGBTQ+ identity is at the center of Gomez's story, with Letty's acceptance into Delia's community as a step toward being able to embrace her homosexuality.  However, I believe Gomez also wanted to show the fear the LBTQ+ members felt in the 1950s.  As they approached Delia's apartment, Letty described Delia as, "jumpy, and Letty tried to put her at ease.  She had not expected her visit would make Delia so anxious."  Then, as they entered the apartment, "Inside, with the door closed, Delia shed her nervousness" (5).  Gomez uses the apartment as a shining light, a safe space where members of the homosexual community can be themselves.  Outside, they felt fear, and the inability to embrace their sexuality, indicative of the fear that the Lavender Scare had applied to homosexual's in the 1950s.

Conclusion

    I hope that readers of this blog can see that Gomez's inclusion of these details in "Don't Explain" is no work of fantasy, but indicative of the times.  Wealth and employment inequality created economic hurdles that affected all facets of a black American's life, including housing and job opportunities.  Homosexual discrimination, especially the Lavender Scare, prevented LGBTQ+ members from safely expressing their sexual identities.  Through reading "Don't Explain" we can achieve a more complete understanding of the effects of discrimination in the 1950s.

Sources

(1) Derenoncourt, Ellora, et al. "Wealth of Two Nations: The U.S. Racial Wealth Gap, 1860-2020." Princeton Economics, The Trustees of Princeton University, May 2022, https://economics.princeton.edu/working-papers/wealth-of-two-nations-the-u-s-racial-wealth-gap-1860-2020/.

(2) Blakemore, Erin. "How LGBT Civil Servants Became Public Enemy No. 1 in the 1950s." History, 10 October, 2019, https://www.history.com/news/state-department-gay-employees-outed-fired-lavender-scare.

(3) Bedell, Mary. "Employment and Income of Negro Workers - 1940-52." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1953, https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1953/article/pdf/employment-and-income-of-negro-workers-1940-52.pdf.

(4) Adkins, Judith. "These People Are Frightened to Death." National Archives and Records Administration, Prologue Magazine, 2016, https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2016/summer/lavender.html.

(5) Gomez, Jewelle. "Don't Explain." Using Critical Theory. Routledge, 1987, pp. 354-62.

(6) Vedfelt, Klaus. "Image of the Wealth Gap." NPR, https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2022/06/14/1104660659/why-the-racial-wealth-gap-is-so-hard-to-close.