Zami: A New Spelling of My Name

Throughout the narrative, racism plays an integral part to Audre’s development. It is an injustice which Audre has always had to suffer, a reality that extends into every aspect of her life. During her time in school, she was subjected to both subtle and blatant racism at the hands of her teachers:

If the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament […] had been patronizing, at least their racism was couched in the terms of their mission. At St. Catherine’s School, the Sisters of Charity were downright hostile. Their racism was unadorned, unexcused, and particularly painful because I was unprepared for it (59).

After the subtler microaggressions experienced at her first school, which included labeling the students as good Fairies and bad Brownies, Audre is unprepared for the blatant racism of the next school she attends. She suffers severe psychological trauma as a result of this racism, feeling that she does not belong in this academic setting, which is meant to protect children from the outside world. Unfortunately, school merely serves to reinforce the systemic racism apparent within American society.

The racism that Audre experiences is not confined to school. In spite of her parents’ refusal to acknowledge racism, she and her family still experience it firsthand, such as the time when they go to Washington, D.