Fledgling

Fledgling is primarily an allegory meant to illustrate the deadly power of white supremacy in our society. Octavia E. Butler uses the Ina, a vampiric species closely related to humans, to show how racism is so systemic that it can even transcend species. The Silk family, Katharine Dahlman, and their sympathizers believe that Shori Matthews’s (Black) human DNA goes against the very fabric of the “superior” Ina species. They consider humans—even symbionts who are needed for Ina survival—to be beneath Ina and no better than animals. Although Shori’s dark skin allows her to stay awake during the day and withstand the sun longer than pale Ina, the Silks denounce the genetic experiments that made her possible. In a racist twist on the “slippery slope” fallacy, the Silks also believe that Shori’s Blackness will somehow lead to harmful genetic modifications of their species. This alludes to the historical fear of miscegenation, which led to the criminalization of interracial marriage. Although America’s anti-miscegenation laws were struck down in 1967, widespread fear of interracial relationships and the “tainting” of the white race still exist today. The Silks fear the genetic “marriage” of human and Ina DNA, which is the basis of Shori’s existence.