Rampage of Institutional Racism in Zadie Smith’s On Beauty

Abstract

Racism can be observed in physical or verbal harassment directed at someone because they are of a certain racial or cultural origin. For instance, people, including children, may be subjected to discrimination at work or in schools based on race. Institutional racism is also pervasive in areas such as criminal justice, housing, healthcare, and employment, yet many organizations are unaware of how their rules and practices harm some people. To illustrate how Zadie Smith places race in the foreground of her intersections of American, British, and Commonwealth identity, examination of the setting, Cambridge (called Wellington) and Boston is crucial. In this context, this research paper aims to analyze Zadie Smith’s novel On Beauty (2005) in the light Kimberle Cerenshaw’s of Critical Race Theory (CRT). This scholarly investigation also probes the myriad forms of institutional racism including racial politics, color-blindness and Afro- pessimism within a British University setting.