Our enemies, Ourselves, Part I: Systemic racism in The Woman King
The Woman King is an important episode in the narrative overall, not only because of Helo’s development, but also because it expands on colonial politics.
We’ve seen Tom Zarek before, claiming that Sagittarons were exploited and mistreated for centuries by the richer Colonies, but since at that point we consider him a violent terrorist, we disregard his words.
In this episode the viewer sees it clearly; Zarek isn’t talking out of his ass. There’s blatant racism against Sagittarons. They’re being mocked for their religious beliefs (“stubborn root-sucking jackasses”), have slurs thrown at them (Sags) are in danger of being thrown out of Galactica. Many people, including Galen Tyrol and Saul Tigh, freely admit to hating them because of their backwards beliefs and pacifistic nature. Saul especially resents them because they refused to fight alongside the rest of the colonials in New Caprica. Even Dualla, a Sagittaron herself, considers her people “paranoid, pigheaded, and argumentative” An interesting choice of words. The word “argumentative” brings to mind the word “uppity” racist people often use to describe PoC who fight back against their oppression.
The episode does a very good work in showing how systemic racism works within a society. When Sagittarons start dying en masse under Dr. Robert’s care, no one wonders why but Helo. Saul Tigh blatantly declares that Dr. Robert is Caprican, “one of their own”. The reason for this defence is partly because Dr. Robert fought with Tigh and treated his eye wound, but mostly prejudice against the Sagittarons. Tigh calls them “crazy frakking people” and reprimands Helo for defending them.
Dr. Cottle doesn’t fare much better. He refuses to listen to Helo even when he claims to have evidence that Dr. Robert is harming the Sagittarons. He even lies about performing an autopsy to Willie King to discover the cause of death, because he thinks these claims are unimportant, beneath his attention. Even Adama and Roslin, people that we’ve been viewing as benevolent leaders for three seasons, dismiss Helo’s report. Adama claims that he has more pressing matters to attend to.
And this is the essence of systemic racism. The only one who admits to hating the Sagittarons is Saul Tigh. Adama, Roslin, Dr. Cottle, despite showing no overt racism, dismiss the problems the Sagittarons face and consider them unimportant, or even deny their existence, claiming that it’s just Helo being paranoid. Racism is not just someone telling someone else “I don’t like you because you’re _____” and being mean to them. It permeates institutions, government policies. The Sagittarons were exploited for centuries on their own planet, and surely they were treated dismissively by the colonial government even before the destruction of the home worlds.
Sagittarons are stereotyped as primitive and pacifistic, yet no one stops to consider why they distrust medicine, or why they refuse to fight the Cylons in New Caprica. Their refusal to be treated by doctors gave me an insight that this might be more than religious fundamentalism. Due to the brutal exploitation they have gone through, is it too farfetched to think that parts of the population might have been subjected to experiments like the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, or the Guatemala syphilis experiments? In any case, it’s debatable whether the colonial doctors would treat the Sagittarons in an ethical and humane way. Is it implausible to think that after such suffering, they would distrust scientific medicine, and turn instead to traditional medicine and religious practises?
And is it implausible to think that their way of life in New Caprica, after the Cylon occupation, didn’t have much difference from their regular life back on Sagittaron? They were exploited in both cases, so it would be reasonable that they would not fight to “liberate” themselves. In their case, liberation wasn’t a better prospect, so why risk their lives?
And even after it’s revealed that Dr. Robert is killing Sagittarons on purpose, even after his arrest, the first and only person that Adama decides to apologise to is Helo. Not the Sagittarons, not Portia King. Even after their plight is discovered, they’re left without any resolution, without anyone offering their condolences, or apology. Despite the episode showcasing brilliantly the systematic racism and prejudice in colonial society, in ends being about Helo being proven right and fair once more.
We’ve seen Tom Zarek before, claiming that Sagittarons were exploited and mistreated for centuries by the richer Colonies, but since at that point we consider him a violent terrorist, we disregard his words.
In this episode the viewer sees it clearly; Zarek isn’t talking out of his ass. There’s blatant racism against Sagittarons. They’re being mocked for their religious beliefs (“stubborn root-sucking jackasses”), have slurs thrown at them (Sags) are in danger of being thrown out of Galactica. Many people, including Galen Tyrol and Saul Tigh, freely admit to hating them because of their backwards beliefs and pacifistic nature. Saul especially resents them because they refused to fight alongside the rest of the colonials in New Caprica. Even Dualla, a Sagittaron herself, considers her people “paranoid, pigheaded, and argumentative” An interesting choice of words. The word “argumentative” brings to mind the word “uppity” racist people often use to describe PoC who fight back against their oppression.
The episode does a very good work in showing how systemic racism works within a society. When Sagittarons start dying en masse under Dr. Robert’s care, no one wonders why but Helo. Saul Tigh blatantly declares that Dr. Robert is Caprican, “one of their own”. The reason for this defence is partly because Dr. Robert fought with Tigh and treated his eye wound, but mostly prejudice against the Sagittarons. Tigh calls them “crazy frakking people” and reprimands Helo for defending them.
Dr. Cottle doesn’t fare much better. He refuses to listen to Helo even when he claims to have evidence that Dr. Robert is harming the Sagittarons. He even lies about performing an autopsy to Willie King to discover the cause of death, because he thinks these claims are unimportant, beneath his attention. Even Adama and Roslin, people that we’ve been viewing as benevolent leaders for three seasons, dismiss Helo’s report. Adama claims that he has more pressing matters to attend to.
And this is the essence of systemic racism. The only one who admits to hating the Sagittarons is Saul Tigh. Adama, Roslin, Dr. Cottle, despite showing no overt racism, dismiss the problems the Sagittarons face and consider them unimportant, or even deny their existence, claiming that it’s just Helo being paranoid. Racism is not just someone telling someone else “I don’t like you because you’re _____” and being mean to them. It permeates institutions, government policies. The Sagittarons were exploited for centuries on their own planet, and surely they were treated dismissively by the colonial government even before the destruction of the home worlds.
Sagittarons are stereotyped as primitive and pacifistic, yet no one stops to consider why they distrust medicine, or why they refuse to fight the Cylons in New Caprica. Their refusal to be treated by doctors gave me an insight that this might be more than religious fundamentalism. Due to the brutal exploitation they have gone through, is it too farfetched to think that parts of the population might have been subjected to experiments like the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, or the Guatemala syphilis experiments? In any case, it’s debatable whether the colonial doctors would treat the Sagittarons in an ethical and humane way. Is it implausible to think that after such suffering, they would distrust scientific medicine, and turn instead to traditional medicine and religious practises?
And is it implausible to think that their way of life in New Caprica, after the Cylon occupation, didn’t have much difference from their regular life back on Sagittaron? They were exploited in both cases, so it would be reasonable that they would not fight to “liberate” themselves. In their case, liberation wasn’t a better prospect, so why risk their lives?
And even after it’s revealed that Dr. Robert is killing Sagittarons on purpose, even after his arrest, the first and only person that Adama decides to apologise to is Helo. Not the Sagittarons, not Portia King. Even after their plight is discovered, they’re left without any resolution, without anyone offering their condolences, or apology. Despite the episode showcasing brilliantly the systematic racism and prejudice in colonial society, in ends being about Helo being proven right and fair once more.