What does the depiction of Julia in The Comet suggest about the future of racism and race relations?

 Question: What does the depiction of Julia in The Comet suggest about the future of racism and race relations?

The Comet written by Edward Du Bois is an Afrofuturist short story written in 1920. The story features two main characters: Jim, a working class black man, and Julia, a wealthy white woman. Du Bois provides a criticism of racism and anti-blackness by depicting the constant, heavy impact of those societal values on both of the main characters as they navigate, what seems to be, the end of the world. Despite race affecting both of the characters' perceptions of each other, Julia seems to be more rigid in her prejudice than Jim, grappling with her racism throughout the whole story. Julia’s shift in ideology as the plot progresses suggests that in this new, dystopian future there may be hope for race relations. However, the circumstances that it takes for Julia to overcome her racism show that Du Bois himself is not hopeful and is rather pessimistic in his prediction for the future of racism.

At the beginning of The Comet, Julia is heavily influenced by racial prejudice, seen in her treatment of Jim throughout the story. Her reaction when she discovers that the only other survivor of the comet is a black man is especially telling of how she perceives black people, thinking to herself that “of all the sorts of men she had pictured as coming to her rescue she had not dreamed of one like him” (Du Bois 127). Though not outwardly racist, Julia’s preconceived idea that her savior would not be black indicates that she possesses a sort of inherent racism and prejudice against black people. The lack of diversity in Julia’s life before the comet, paired with her inherent racism made it so that Julia was able to ignore the lives and experiences of those that were different from her in the past, something which she acknowledges, “Not that he was not human, but he dwelt in a world so far from hers, so infinitely far, that he seldom even entered her thought” (Du Bois 127). And despite the fact that Julia notes that she does not see Jim as subhuman, her pattern of behavior towards him and perception of him indicates otherwise, noting to herself that “he did not look like men, as she had always pictured men” (Du Bois 129). It is clear through her first interactions with Jim that Julia has internalized the popularized negative stereotypes of black men and projected them onto Jim, explaining why she does not originally view him as a “man” and thinks of him as “alien”.

As Julia begins to understand the severity of the situation she is in, she goes into panic and sinks even deeper into her prejudices, “For the first time she seemed to realize that she was alone in the world with a stranger, with something more than a stranger,- with a man alien in blood and culture- unknown, perhaps unknowable. It was awful! She must escape- she must fly; he must not see her again. Who knew what awful thoughts-” (Du Bois 129). As she falls into a spiral of doubt and panic, Julia exhibits extreme prejudice towards Jim, stereotyping him as an alien, predatory black man. Not even the apocalypse can cause Julia to overcome her prejudice towards black people. It is not until Julia comes to the terrifying realization that she is completely alone in this world and that Jim is the only person she has left that she begins to try to stop being racist, something which Jim notes, saying “Yesterday, he thought with bitterness, she would scarcely have looked at him twice. He would have been dirt beneath her silken feet” (Du Bois 127).

Realizing that Jim is the only other survivor of the comet and that, despite the racism that she has subjected him to, he has stuck by her side and protected her, Julia finally begins to let go of her racism. This realization comes as Julia plans her escape, running away from Jim as he stands still and watches. As Julia runs, she feels a heightened sense of impending doom and succumbs to her fear and loneliness, putting aside her prejudices and returning to Jim, “She whirled and flew back, whimpering like a child, until she found that narrow alley again and the dark, silent figure silhouetted at the top. She stopped and rested; then she walked silently toward him” (Du Bois 130). Turning to the last person she wants to be around, Julia finally spends some time trying to understand Jim for who he truly is, no longer viewing him under the racist lens that she once had him under. By doing this, Julia finally begins to humanize Jim, “He seemed very human,- very near now,” saying “how foolish our human distinctions seem- now” (Du Bois 131). It takes Jim’s exemplary behavior and the literal end of the world for Julia to unpack her racist prejudices, implying a rather bleak future for race relations. Du Bois is pessimistic in his depiction of Julia and the racism that she exhibits, suggesting that even in a post apocalyptic world, humanity will still have a long, complicated battle with racism and race relations.