Slavery and White Privilege in Herman Melville's Benito Cereno

White Privilege existed from the historical events that endured racism and biases. It is a concept of societal advantages or immunity granted to white people over non-white people. Heman Melville’s novella Benito Cereno is a third-person limited retell of the historical event of a failed slave in captivity uprising the Spaniard ship. Benito Cereno uses the “invisible man” to discuss the blindless metaphor between both the slaves and white characters. Melville critiques the discourses on white privilege but also their internal contradictions, and how it enables the slave revolution.

Benito Cereno revolves around the climactic events following the events of slave mutiny on St. Dominick that is controlled by the Spanish Captain Don Benito. However, the slaves maintain a masquerade which results from American Captain Amasa Delano to remain blind to the truth about the control of the ship which is directed by Babo. Delano’s blindness is shown in a literal and symbolic sense that generates a sense of uncertainty. At the start of the book, Delano finds himself in “grey vapors” and “creeping clouds” to allude the illusion that his perception is weakened. He also cannot perceive the revolt of the slave. It is only when Cerano joins the ship desperately to avoid Babo’s attempt to kill him revealing the slaves’ rebellion to be apparent.

Delano is constantly reassured of his doubts because of the blacks’ physical appearance as unsophisticated and the whites, “by nature, the shrewder race”. Nevertheless, Delano’s assumption of white supremacy becomes a liability. For example, Atufal who is one of the leaders of the slave revolt acts to be chained while Cerano has the possession of the key to his padlock as evidence that he has lordship over the slaves. Delano misreads the symbolic roles that take place between master and slave since Atufal simply feigns his refusal to beg his master’s pardon, while Cerano, himself is imprisoned.

Captain Delano’s firm belief in white supremacy leads him to stereotype Babo as Spaniard’s devoted companion. Interestingly, Babo is designed as the invisible man and he acknowledges that it is sometimes advantageous to be unseen, playing the role of the emasculated black slave to meet his ends. During the shaving scene, Babo is actually in control of his master as he threatened to cut him with the razor if he decides to tell Delano any clues. Even after Babo is executed, his head can be seen as the shadow of blacks on whites, embodying the fear of white privilege assumption over black inferiority.

In Benito Cereno, white privilege becomes doubly blinding in failing to see themselves clearly and also failing to see how it would appear to other races. It demonstrates how the black saves were keenly aware of Delano’s self-satisfied whiteness to exploit their former masters. For most of the story, Delano remained oblivious due to his objectification of blackness, for he was blinded from the reality by his own white supremacist biases.