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Racism in Desiree’s Baby

Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin perfectly illuminates the racial environment of the

nineteenth century especially before the civil war. Though the story is not dated, it is clear from

the setting, the covered wagons, slavery and transportation on horses that the story is set before

the age of the civil rights activism. During this period there was a clear line of racial privileges in

which the white were superior to the blacks and the blacks are slaves to the white masters.

Desiree’s Baby follows the story of Desiree an abandoned white girl who is adopted by

privileged white parents and later married by a white man, Armand, of French origin with whom

they have a child who turns out to be black. Drama ensues upon realization that the child is black

leading to separation of Desiree and her husband Armand. Through the story, Kate chopping

emerges as a non-racist writer who sees the struggles of the black community embraces the good

deeds of white people that are considerate of the black community and generally challenges the

racial classification of people according to their color or that of their relatives.

For starters Kate Chopin is challenging the general fabric of racial classification in which

the people with light complexion are treated better than the black people. For instance, when

Armand Aubigny realizes that the child is black, he immediately classifies Desiree as black since

she is the one with an unknown identity. Though she tries to defend herself by showing him the

color of the skin on her hand, he satirically remarks they are “as white as La Blanche’s)
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(Choppin 3). Blanches is a slave in Armand’s estate and a mother to a quadroon boy. The

actions of Armand represents the reality of race at the time in which no one wanted to be

associated with blackness to the extent that he expels away his wife and the child. Later on the

author reveals that the identity of Armand is mixed race and that he is the actual cause of the

child’s color. In this case Chopin treats the character Armand to a dose of his own medicine by

revealing to him that he is of the same color that he thinks is “cursed with the brand of slavery”

(Chopin 4). Through this revelation Chopin comes out as a supporter of equal treatment of

everyone by demonstrating that not the curse of slavery is not real since Armand himself is ot a

slave despite having a black ancestry.

Chopin hides the true identities of Desiree and Armand to show how equal people can be

if the racial factor is not considered. Desiree is a character whose origin is unknown since she

was abandoned and rescued and brought up by Madame Valmonde and her husband monsieur

(Choppin 2). On the other hand, Armand is believed to be a white man of French decent and does

not know that his mother belongs to the black race. Chopin hides this information intentionally,

to equate the two and to avoid judging either on basis of their race. The information about letter

in the end of the story is critical for the audience to understand that the prejudices and perceived

inequality between is a state of the mind and not a permanent curse. When the reader does not

know the identity of the characters they will treat them with equality which shows that Chopin

was not racist.

In summary, Desiree’s Baby does not show any sign that Chopin upholds racist views but

it suggests that she values racial equity. Considering this story was probably written at a time

when equality was yet to be fully accepted, Chopin is an indication that not all white people were

comfortable with the way people of color were treated by the whites.
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Part 2. Modern views of race

A lot has changed in the US since Chopin published her story Desiree’s baby and the

society has embraced equality more than ever. Though there a few areas that need improvement,

the current situation is incomparable with the state of racial discrimination at the time Chopin

wrote her story. America is currently viewed as the land of the free and everyone despite their

race is regarded equal before the law at least by the majority. It is possible that a genetic issue

similar to the tragedy that befell Armand and Desiree could happen in the current day America.

However, in the current circumstances it would not warrant so much tragedy or the ostracism of

a person as it happens in the Chopin’s story. Genetically it is possible for a couple of one color to

give birth to a baby of an opposite color if there has been an introduction of the opposite color

genes within the couple’s lineage.

There has been several occurrences of biracial twins and a few cases of white babies form

black couples or black children from white couples. For instance, a family in South Africa made

up of completely white parents gave birth to a girl with a dark complexion. Sandra Liang, has

recently become an internet sensation after her story went viral, that she is born to white parents,

Abraham and Sannie Liang (Caroll Par. 1). The study of genetics is rapidly evolving ad it is

becomes more complicated day by day. Scientist explained the case of Sandra Liang as an

introduction of black genes somewhere within her paternal lineage (Marshall Par. 2). The story

of Sandra whose story has been adapted in films indicate the complexity of genetics and

inheritance and further prove that a story such as the Desiree’s Baby can occur in the modern

day. Though the story happened in South Africa, the same is possible here in America.

The vice versa is also very possible in which black parents can give rise to white

children. In another case, two black parents of Nigerian decent gave birth to a child with blonde
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hair blue eyes and doctors confirmed that the child did not have any form of albinism (Dahl, Par.

1). It is another demonstration of how compel genetic inheritance works. However how these

cases are treated in the modern world is very different from how Armand and Desiree handled

their case in Chopin’s story, by separating (Chopin 3). In Chopin’s story, there is more

glorification of whiteness and belonging to the white race and the black complexion and

background is highly despised. People are more aware now and understand the complexity of

genetic inheritance. Such cases in the US cannot not cause tragedy instead are embraced as a

developments in genetics and as fruits of diversity. While these two cases mentioned here

received much public attention, it is possible that there are more cases that were never publicized

and thus an indication that people have embraced genetic diversity and understood the concept of

genetic inheritance.

Genetic inheritance is complicated and the study is constantly evolving. Some recessive

genes can be inherited over generations only to show up generations later down the family line.

During the time Chopin wrote Desiree’s Baby, There was little knowledge of genetic inheritance

the reason why Desiree is ousted from her family even when the baby’s color is not her fault.

However, the society is much knowledgeable now about inheritance, and though such occurrence

are uncommon when they happen, they are treated as normal births and attract less negative

attention as would have during the segregation era. Racial equality and civil education has

helped people to understand that people should not be judged by their skin color but rather their

capabilities.
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Works Cited

Chopin, Kate. “Desiree’s Baby.” November 24, 1892

Dahl, Mellissa. “Black Parents White Baby.” NBC News

https://www.nbcnews.com/healthmain/white-baby-born-black-parents-1c6437718

Caroll, Rory. “The black woman - with white parents” The guardian 2003.

https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2003/mar/17/features11.g2

Marshall, Jessica. “Skin colour: cracking the genetic code.” New Scientist 2007.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19325941-700-skin-colour-cracking-the-

genetic-code/