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Stephen Portsmouth
Dr. Oforlea
ENGL 322
6 December 2013
The Evolution of Escape in African-American Culture
Colson Whiteheads, Sag Harbor, chronicles a summer in the life of fifteen year old
African-American adolescent, Benji. Benjis summer in Sag Harbor seems fairly typical for a
boy his age. Benji sips sodas and sneaks beers, plays with toy guns, and relishes the annual
Labor Day barbeque. The freedom vested to Benji at Sag harbor allows him to grow into
someone who works to support himself, who can live on his own, and look after his younger
brother, Reggie. To the untrained eye, Benjis summer seems pedestrian, filled with fairly
routine happenings in the life of any fifteen year old boy, minus a few near escapes from dogs
and a sweeping undertow. Colson Whitehead did not simply write a What I did over Summer
Vacation report for Benji, and his narrative is not intended to serve only as a coming of age tale,
or a commentary on the nostalgia that accumulates over the span of his childhood from the
annual trips to a summer vacation home. The narrative Whitehead constructs is shaped and
informed by a masterplot unique to African-American culture. H. Porter Abbot, who authored
The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative, explains that masterplots are adaptable outlines of
stories that are often universally used and understood (Abbot 46). Abbot also explains that
masterplots can vary across cultures and some masterplots are understood more readily by
certain cultures. Regardless of the culture associated with the masterplot, all masterplots assume
an active role in the formation of an individuals beliefs and values, identity, and perceptions of
the world (Abbot 46-7). If we accept that masterplots play a major role in the development of an
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individual or cultures identity and ideologies, and that any culture with which we cannot
identify with, may recognize and understand any given masterplot in ways in which we cannot,
then naturally we may underread that cultures narrative and find less or unintended meaning
within. In order for an audience to make sense of Sag Harbor, to appreciate Sag Harbors
function as a refuge, as a place where African-Americans have the opportunity to evade the
apprehensions of a racist nation, the audience must come to recognize and understand a
masterplot that structures Benjis tale as well as the past and present African-American narrative:
The masterplot of escape.
It is clear how the masterplot of escape came to be a part of the African-American
narrative: slavery existed and African-American slaves sought to escape. Because slavery was
brutal, cruel, and absolutely overwhelming, escape was an instinctive reaction and has always
been a clear and identifiable masterplot within slave narratives. Slavery has been abolished and
African-Americans no longer need to escape slavery, but racism is alive and well in America,
and African-Americans are still forced to escape, not from slavery, but from racialization in
order to withstand modern white cultural hegemonys imprisoning values.
African-Americans still must escape the dominant white majoritys racialized definition
of being black, which is to be less, to be inferior. American, dominant white culture today, still
sees black and white as binaries, in which white is all that is good and black is the exact
opposite; bad. African-Americans are aware that they have been othered by the dominant white
majority. Alana Lentin explains how damaging this imposed othered definition is to African-
Americans in her book, Racism A Beginners Guide. Lentin states The other is raced-endowed
with racial characteristics- while the white, the Western, and the colonizer remain race neutral,
the standard against which the former is to be judged (Lentin 33). This inaccurate but pervasive
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definition of blackness in American culture fosters a type of racism that is extremely difficult to
escape, internalized racism, because its socially constructed and repeatedly enforced by the
white cultural hegemony (Tyson 362). W.E.B. DuBois notes that these othered definitions, once
internalized through unrelenting social forces, can have profound negative psychological effects
on African-Americans, including the creation of a double consciousness. African-Americans are
forced to develop a dual consciousness, one part being their African heritage and identity and the
second is their American identity, unjustly forced upon them by the dominant white majority
(Lyubansky 4). Benji does not ever openly express that he recognizes his own double
consciousness, but he does understand when hes being alienated because of his race. Benji
explains how he feels when he is surrounded by white hegemony. I was used to being the only
black kid in the room- I was only there because I had met these assorted Abes and Sarahs and
Dannys in a Manhattan private school (Whitehead 7). But while Benji says he is used to
being the only African-American in a room of whites, he still feels alienated. Judged, and
othered amidst their presence. Benji explains that its important to experience this discomfort
because it trains the kid in question to determine when people in the corner of his eye are
talking about him and when they are not (Whitehead 7). This statement demonstrates that
racism has become a regular part of life for Benji when he is at home in New York City, and he
is able to tolerate the mistreatment because he knows that for a quarter of every year, he can
assume an identity true to himself, one he created. For a quarter of every year Benji gets to
escape, he gets to seek refuge in Sag Harbor.
For Benji and the other African-Americans, who flee the city to return to the Sag Harbor
community immediately upon summers advent, coming to Sag means getting out, or escaping
their normal lives in which they experience everyday racism. Lois Tyson reminds us that
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everyday racism is not outward, explicit racist actions, but instead is the ever-persistent,
emotionally distressing racism that has come to be the norm rather than the exception in America
(Tyson 369). It is easy to overlook Benjis escape because he just seems like any other kid when
he is in Sag Harbor, listening to music with his friends, working a first job, and chasing girls.
But, Benjis escape lies in the fact that he can be a normal kid, be around those he identifies
with, form his own healthy identity free from self-hatred, and can speak Black Vernacular
English or Ebonics and feel at home. For Benji, it almost seems that Sag Harbor represents the
closest thing hell ever encounter to a utopia of racial equality. Back in New York, Benji
tolerates being the butt of racialized jokes when he wears a yarmulke atop his afro, but when his
boss, Martine, pats him on his head it is seen as a racist gesture by N.P. and Benji cant help but
wonder himself (Whitehead 7, 94). For a brief time Benji feels vulnerable in Sag Harbor because
(possibly) overt racism occurred. This throws Benji off because his guard is down while hes in
Sag Harbor, a place where he normally finds some respite from racism. Sag Harbor is more than
a vacation spot; it is a refuge for African-American culture and a place where an African-
American can shed the weight of being othered, of having a double consciousness.
In order for escape to be a masterplot for the narrative, it must have strong influences of
identity, values, and ones perception of the world. Clearly Benjis identity is drastically shaped
by the masterplot of escape. He speaks differently, has a close-knit group of friends with whom
he creates a sense of identity with. The boys have all escaped, theyre out, and that garnishes
respect within the Sag Harbor community. Benji explains just how important getting out is to
ones identity in the Harbor when he answers the question how long are you out for? Benji
replies, The magic answer was Through Labor Day or The Whole Summer. Anything less was
to signal misfortune (Whitehead 2). Escape is also a masterplot because it reoccurs subtly
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throughout the story. Benji barely escapes the viscous Dobermans and marks it on his map to
remind him of his narrow escape. Benji also only narrowly escapes an undertow with the help of
his friend, Clyde (Whitehead 66). Whitehead includes these close encounters to remind Benji
and the audience that African-Americans are never truly out and that they consistently must
escape racism.
Benjis father also had to attempt to escape the cultural hegemony of white America. As a
doctor who owns two separate summer homes, it would make sense that Benjis father is affluent
and certainly successful. Instead of continuing forward against the dominant hegemony, Benjis
father has settled down. It is almost as if he feels he has reached his ceiling in society and
realizes that no matter how affluent or accomplished he may be, hes still limited socially, only
earning the respect of his fellow African-Americans. To escape this feeling of being trapped, of
still being held down by the white people, though society is supposedly progressing, Benjis
father turns to the bottle. Alcohol is a temporary escape for Benjis father in which he can let off
some of the tension that exponentially expands as he continues to live in a racist society that
continues to attempt to define him. Alcohol acts as a numbing agent in many African-American
narratives, easing the frequent sting of racism and providing a temporary escape from the harsh
reality of being an African-American in a white dominant nation. In the African-American
narrative, Your Blues Aint Like Mine, by Bebe Moore Campbell we see men, both white and
black alike, turn to alcohol to escape their harsh realities. Wydell, an African-American man who
traded in his family for booze. Eventually his drinking, his escape, lead to an even harsher
reality, one in which his drinking problem placed his son in a dangerous position, one that he
could not escape. Wydells temporary escape, winds down every night around 2 AM, closing
time. Even if Wydell is able to escape his cycle of abuse and escape, he will never escape the
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truth that Armstrong is dead and he is partially responsible. James Alan Neff, a professor at the
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, would say that these men are abusing
alcohol because they both have escape drinking motives, which include social isolation. In fact,
Neff points to a study that found escape drinking is 66.3% more likely among those who are
socially isolated (Neff 35). This explains why African-Americans may turn to alcohol in order to
escape; they have nowhere else to turn because theyre socially isolated and alcohol is the only
available escape from the psychological harm caused by racism.
Escape is a masterplot that is essentially universal for African-American culture as it has
manifested in one form or another in the literary works covered this semester. Akin to Benji and
Sag Harbor, Elvis from Chris Abanis, GraceLand, sees the United States as a land of grandeur
and as an opportunity to escape the slums and its cycle of violence and crime. Elvis truly
believes that in America, he will be openly accepted and appreciated as opposed to admonished
for pursuing dance as a career (Abani 25). Elvis sees his chance to escape Lagos as a chance to
obtain and maintain the identity he has always desired, to be a dancer. Its this chance of escape
that motivates Elvis to earn money in illegal and disrespectable ways. Escape essentially guides
Elvis perception of his reality in Lagos and his desired future in America.
As a member of the dominant white majority in America, it is easy to consume Benjis
tale of Sag Harbor, but without knowledge of the African-American masterplot of escape,
Benjis summers seem ordinary and unimportant. When the reader has an understanding of the
way racism manifests in various forms, all uniquely damaging, then they will more readily
identify masterplots, that are helping structure the unique cultures narrative, and that may not be
as pertinent or easily identifiable in their own culture.
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Works Cited
Abani, Christopher. GraceLand. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2004. Print.
Abbot, Porter H. The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative. New York: Cambridge UP, 2009.
Print.
Campbell, Bebe Moore. Your Blues Ain't Like Mine. New York: Ballantine, 2007. Print.
Lentin, Alana. Racism: A Beginner's Guide. Richmond: Oneworld, 2008. Print.
Lyubansky, M. "Revisiting Du Bois: The Relationship Between African American Double
Consciousness and Beliefs About Racial and National Group Experiences." Journal of
Black Psychology 31.1 (2005): 3-26. Sage Publications. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
Neff, James A. "SOLITARY DRINKING, SOCIAL ISOLATION, AND ESCAPE DRINKING
MOTIVES AS PREDICTORS OF HIGH QUANTITY DRINKING, AMONG ANGLO,
AFRICAN AMERICAN AND MEXICAN AMERICAN MALES."Alcohol &
Alcoholism 32.1 (1997): 33-41. Highwire Oxford University Press. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.
Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today: A User-friendly Guide. New York, NY [u.a.: Routledge,
2008. Print.