Chopin

The writer’s race matters when the narrative deals with race because there is only so much that can go into a narrative about such a topic that a white woman in the 1890s like Kate Chopin,  would never be able to fully understand and experience herself. It would be more important and more credible for the narrative to come from someone who actually experiences racism, not benefited from it. By coming from a family of slave owners, and marrying someone in the cotton industry Chopin may be able to see the oppression and racism firsthand, but there is always bias because Chopin was never the receiver of the racism. I believe that Chopin writing about the struggles of African Americans in the 1890s was advantageous to the extent that it was competing with social norms at the time. However, the white savior narrative is overused, the truth is behind the people who actually struggled with racism and slavery. The U.S has a long history of telling the story of racism from a white perspective, and it would make more sense for the stories of African American slavery to come from African Americans.