Kevin and Dana have by most measures a very stable relationship, they do run into a rocky patch when Kevin's family expresses their displeasure over his marrying a black women. But nothing compared to him literally being forced to treat Dana as a slave.
Is it possible to ignore race after such an incident? Was it even possible before? To me even now, let alone 1970's America race is a part of any conversation I have I've been conditioned and do see race. I notice when in conversation whether I'm talking to a Black,White, Asian etc.. man. One of the identifiers of a person to me is what race they are.
Now I'm not sure the ways in which the way I perceive people has any impact on the way I act. I like to tell myself it doesn't but I can't shake the idea that I still do. Especially when talking about a racially charged subject, such as the recent Trayvon Martin Case I would chose my words much more deliberately if I was addressing the Apollo theater on the subject, as opposed to the Metropolitan Opera.
I can't speak for Kevin as a person, but I've seen very few people who escape such behaviors. It's impossible to avoid race when we previously used it as the prime measure of social standing. I'm still surprised at the strength of Kevin and Dana's relationship and really admire the amount of respect they treat each other with in such bleak situations.
But it's interesting how little race actually comes up when Dana and Kevin talk about this stuff (which doesn't mean it isn't a subtext, on both of their minds). In a sense, Dana's anxiety about Kevin has more to do with gender than race--and this is connected to her experiences in the 19th century as well, esp. when Rufus basically makes her his secretary (work she resented when Kevin blithely assumed she'd do it for him).
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