Sammendrag
This thesis will combine Paul Beatty’s The Sellout with critical race theory to expose the failures and absurdities of post-racialism. It will use Beatty’s novel as a starting point to explore the issues of colorblind beliefs in present-day America, arguing that it is a dangerous ideology that helps keep white privilege and systemic racism alive. With post-racial ideas paradoxically blossoming alongside an increase in racial injustice and white supremacy, Beatty’s novel can provide us with a deeper understanding of contemporary race relations in the US. In order to prove that colorblindness is another form of racism, this thesis will substantiate the ideas in The Sellout by connecting them with insights from critical race theories. It will actively engage the works of theorists such as Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped from the Beginning and How to Be an Antiracist, Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, and Michael Omi and Howard Winant’s “Racial Formation in the United States.”