Colorism and the Mimicry of Colonial Gaze in Toni Morrison's Sweetness

Abstract

The study analyzes Toni Morrison’s short story Sweetness by combining insights from postcolonial and race theories to explore the linkages between mimicry and the colonial gaze. Morrison develops an elaborate depiction of internalized racism and colorism as techniques that sustain colonial power while revealing that some Black people end up supporting their suppression. Through its examination of the disturbed bond between Sweetness and her Black daughter, Lula Ann, the paper demonstrates how Black communities adopt white supremacist color hierarchies into their cultural practice of racial capitalism survival. The performance of white values through mimicry provides no actual power because it creates emotional detachment while prolonging agonies passed from one generation to the next. The paper interprets Sweetness's failure to love her child without condition as a symptom of pervasive colonial logic, which influences both present-day racial attitudes and intimate relationships among African Americans. Hence, through Sweetness, Morrison delivers a robust condemnation of colorism that demonstrates how the colonial outlook disrupts Black identity from inside and maintains racial value systems.