The book Killing Rage: Ending Racism written by bell hooks (lowercase intentional), whose real name is Gloria Watkins, is not the typical novel a reader may expect. It is a joint culmination of 23 different essays written from the viewpoint of a black female figure. These essays focus on the horrific conditions of racism and sexism the characters face throughout the essays, whether it be discrimination from certain stores or streets to physical attacks and sexual assaults based on their race and gender. The uniqueness of the novel being a combination of 23 essays is showcased in the equal uniqueness of the viewpoint taken by the main character, a viewpoint bathed in red as she explains her rage against the people who discriminate and harass her.
In summary, these essays are controversial figures of writing that explore the suffering of black women. In simple terms, black women receive the short end of the stick in terms of racial discrimination and gender discrimination. When there are fights for rights of black people and minorities, the women of those race are often brushed aside as the men take up the prominent and important roles in the fight. When there are fights for the right of women, black people and minorities are often pushed aside as white women lead the fight. In this way, black women are usually discriminated against doubly, which is why the author explores various experiences through the eyes of black women.
One of the first essays follows the narrator, named bell, and her friend K as they experience the harshness of racism first hand on a plane. bell and K were all set to go on a journey and had purchased first-class tickets well in advance. However when they sat in their seats, complaints started to get louder and louder and insults were hurled their way. The white people sitting around them in first class told them that it was impossible that two black women would be able to purchase first class tickets, and even when bell and K showed them the tickets they had purchased, the people around them claimed that they had probably stolen them. After being constantly harassed for quite some time, bell and K were finally forced into submission and moved their seats from first class. This was unfair and wrong because they had purchased the proper tickets, but the racial discrimination in society prevented them from sitting in their spot.
Another one of the essays, which occurs near the middle of the book, doesn't focus on a specific event. Instead, this essay focuses on the mindset that black women must have when fighting for equality in society and how they must not remain passive in their actions, lest they fail in their endeavors completely. bell describes how even though rage can be destructive in certain ways, it can also be constructive towards their movement or cause. Black women in society had been passive and allowed the discrimination to exist and create a live that was unlivable. She showed this with a metaphor about a frog in boiling water. If you had a frog in a pot of water, and slowly made it warmer and warmer, you could eventually make it reach boiling point before the frog realized and it would be too late for the frog to escape. However, if you immediately put in boiling water, this would startle the frog and cause to jump away and escape. This sudden, boiling water was the essence of the rage bell described.
