Was O'Connor a Recovering Racist?

           

     In Flannery O’Connor’s story “Revelation,” we are introduced to another one of her infuriating and judgmental characters, Mrs. Turpin. Though in this story Mrs. Turpin makes many remarks that are very telling of her self-righteous personality, one of the comments she made that really stood out to me was her reference to what black people really want to do, “improve their color” (O’Connor 496). While in the waiting room, the woman Mrs. Turpin refers to as white-trash makes a comment saying she wishes all black people would return to Africa because that is what they want to do. Mrs. Turpin in return disagrees and says, “Nooo, they’re going to stay here where they can go to New York and marry white folks and improve their color. That’s what they all want to do, every one of them, improve their color” (O’Connor 496). Considering Mrs. Turpin’s view on class ranking, this comment aligns perfectly with her beliefs. She believes for a black person to better themselves; they need to marry a white person and create what her husband Claud calls, “white-faced _______” (O’Connor 496). 

    

        What I found interesting about this comment is that in other pieces of literature written and taken place during this time period, interracial couples were completely unthought of and extremely controversial. Up until the Supreme Court Case Loving vs. Virginia in 1967, interracial marriage was outlawed. Knowing this, it was very surprising to me that interracial marriage was even considered by someone as judgmental as the character Mrs. Turpin. This then led me to think about the discussion we had about O’Connor’s true intentions when writing about race. Though this particular story is very racially charged, the fact that Mrs. Turpin is not completely disgusted by the concept of interracial marriage leaves me to question O’Connor’s intent yet again. 

 

             As we discussed in class, many critics and everyday readers of O’Connor’s work have a difficult time deciding whether or not she was racist, standing up against racism, or merely a product of her own time. I too am someone who has become especially torn over O’Connor’s stance on race. From the personal letters that have been released, or the stories like “Revelation”, it can be easy for one to decide that O’Connor was racist. However, through her character Mrs. Turpin, I have to think that maybe her stance on race was a lot more complex than what we understand. As Angela Alaimo O’Donnell suggests in her book, Radical Ambivalence: Race in Flannery O’Connor, maybe O’Connor was what she calls, a “recovering racist.” Much like a recovering alcoholic or even recovering catholic, one is traumatized by their experience and though they are trying to get away from it, it still takes up a large part of their lives. Classifying O’Connor as a recovering racist somewhat combines all of the categories many critics of her work try to shove her in. 

            By writing stories such as “Revelation,” O’Connor is not only exposing racism for what it is, but maybe she is also writing to better understand how to overcome it herself. O’Connor uses characters like Mrs. Turpin to expose white southerners who feel as though they are superior to black people, while also purging her own personal thoughts that she knows are racist. Because O’Connor lived in the South where racism ran ramped, she used her writing as a way to help herself and others see just how wrong racism was.  O’Donnell’s term, recovering racist, is something that helps me better understand O’Connor’s work. While though it seems that she uses many of her characters as tools to break down racism, they may also be a tool to help O’Connor cope with and mend her own racist views.