“There’s nothing I hate more than a racist:” (Re)centering whiteness in American Horror Story: Coven

ABSTRACT

This article examines race and racism in the popular cable horror-drama American Horror Story: Coven. Centered around a feud between a white witch coven and a black, voodoo group of witches, Coven overtly deals with the issue of racism, but presents racism as a phenomenon contained in the past; something that does not happen anymore. Using critical post-race theory and scholarship on colorblind racism, whiteness, as well as black feminist theory, I show that although the narrative of Coven explicitly decries racism, it simultaneously invests in colorblind racist narratives and dialogue. Whiteness is central in Coven, operating through discourse that ignores racial difference and contemporary forms of oppression and erasure. Coven uses graphic depictions of violence against black bodies, makes explicit connections between black sexuality and animals, and uses exotic and aggressive stereotypes of black women to tell its story. Thus, Coven’s narrative both condemns racism and relies on it. This article shows that the contemporaneous presentations of explicit anti-racist dialogue and racist imagery work to (re)place whiteness at the center of Coven, a TV show that purports to forward a message of equality and justice for those who are different.

KEYWORDS:

• Whiteness
• colorblind racism
• horror TV
• stereotypes
• American horror story

Notes on contributor

Amanda Kay LeBlanc is a Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Communication at the University of South Florida. She would like to thank Rachel Dubrofsky for her astute guidance and support throughout this project. She also thanks the two anonymous reviewers for their insightful suggestions, and editor Brookey for his help in navigating the revisions.

Notes

1. The black witches are never referred to as a coven; only the white witches under Fiona's reign are referred to as such.

2. This character is loosely based on a real historical figure of the same name. In Coven, the young witches visit LaLaurie's house, now a museum. Her real-life house still stands in New Orleans, although it is not a museum.

3. Flashbacks to the 1920s and the 1960s show a bustling house of about 30 young witch-students.

4. Coven does not explain why Queenie joins the white coven instead of Laveau's voodoo witches.

5. Editorials, recaps, and criticism about this scene appeared in Rolling Stone Magazine, Jezebel.com, and Vulture, for example. Yesha Callihan, writing for ClutchMagOnline. has a particularly insightful analysis of the scene.