Unmasking Tom Buchanan and Hank Schroeder

 In the world of both literature and television, many characters often subtly express their racist thoughts through their words and actions. Though they come from different eras, Tom Buchanan from the novel “The Great Gatsby” and Hank Schrader from the TV series “Breaking Bad” both display racist biases in their respective stories. 

In chapter 1, Tom mentions a book called “the rise of the colored empires” (Fitzgerald 12) and praises its content. He refers to the white race as the “dominant race” (13) and states that they need to “watch out or these other races will have control of things.” (13)  This shows his racist ideologies and that he believes white people being the superior. Although, this might not seem obvious, his white supremacist beliefs show how he views people of color, especially black people, as inferior. Especially since this book is set in the 1920s, it adds context to his belief because the roaring 20s were times of much discrimination. 

On the other hand, Hank’s sense of racial superiority is shown through the way he navigates his job. Being a law enforcement officer, Hank often suspects people of color as criminals. He also shows to make assumptions based in the ethnicities of suspects in many episodes. Similar to Tom, this is not explicitly racist but it shows how Hank reinforces racial stereotypes as he uses racial profiling on minorities without any proof of wrongdoing. He also misuses his authority as an officer by doing so. 

Despite coming from different time periods, both Tom Buchanan and Hank Schrader exhibit racial biases. These behaviors show their qualities as characters and allow the reader/watcher to better understand their complexity. More importantly, this shows the evolvement of racism still existing in society in subtle ways, which may have gone unnoticed, that can eventually lead to harm.