Uncovering the Shadows: Unveiling the Racism Within Social Classes as Depicted in Shamsie's Kartography

Abstract

The covert racism in the elitist community manifests itself through hate speech and the multiplicity in the narratives given by the elite and the ones being marginalized. The purpose of this study is to analyze the various ways by which Shamsie has discussed this issue of elitist racism present within Pakistani society in her work titled Kartography. By employing the textual analysis as research method, the study will be done under the scrutiny of critical race theory, especially the perspective of Mari Matsuda. Critical race theory talks about the universality of the concept of race. Critical race theory goes on about racism within the legal system and the intersectionalities that come with it. Critical race theory proves to be the right tool to go for if a person is to study the plethora of issues associated with the Bengalis and Muhajir issues. The minimization of ethnicities and groups of people comes under the wide domain of the critical race theory. The paper aims to establish that there is urgent need for the recognition of the fact that there is covert racism present in the elites of the Pakistani society especially that of Karachi and there are some hidden issues that should be addressed when talking about racism and the postcolonial society. There needs to be some legally bound amendments to the law and order institutions so that there is less violence and more peaceful negotiations when the point comes to multiple ethnicities and races.