Ace of Spades

The biggest challenge facing Devon Richards and Chiamaka Adebayo in Ace of Spades is anti-Black racism. Black people in America and around the world experience racism because of the ways that racial categories and systems of oppression have been developed and maintained over the past several centuries. At first, neither Devon nor Chiamaka wants to accept that the Aces texts are motivated by racism. They both know that racism impacts them, but they find it easier to grapple with individual dislike than to accept the idea of structural oppression. Neither of them wants to believe that their entire school system is a fundamentally unsafe environment for them or that the people around them wish them profound harm because they are Black; the idea is too sickening. It is only after Devon and Chiamaka accept that they are indeed experiencing racism that they are able to work toward a solution.

The Aces society exists to uphold racism and white supremacy. The texts, the threats, and the fake car crash all have the ultimate goal of forcing Chiamaka and Devon out of the realm of elite academia. When Belle Robinson refers to social eugenics, she means a deliberate and widespread effort to ensure that white people (specifically, white people who want to uphold racism) hold on to as much social power as possible, while Black people hold as little as possible. Post-secondary education is one of the main ways for people in the United States to increase their earning potential, escape poverty, and gain upward social mobility and power. Niveus could maintain its goal of social eugenics by simply not accepting Black students to begin with. Instead, Aces has turned its racism into a game by actively tormenting Black students and even enacting violence against them; such actions are fun for people like Jamie Fitzjohn and Headmaster Ward.

Although Devon and Chiamaka experience the most overt and intense anti-Black racism from Aces, Niveus does not exist in a vacuum. Devon and Chiamaka also experience racism in other areas of their lives. For example, Devon has been profoundly impacted by the carceral system, and he is keenly aware of the dangers that police officers pose to him. Chiamaka has led a privileged life, but she cannot escape racism even within her own family. By writing Ace of Spades, Àbíké-Íyímídé explains that while some white people are deliberate and even gleeful in their racism (like Jamie), many others perpetuate racism through their passivity (like Belle, or Chiamaka’s father). Similarly, systems of power and authority will generally benefit white people and potentially endanger Black people, as evidenced by Ms. Donovan’s alliance with Aces.

All people have multifaceted identities that intersect and interact in specific ways. Some identities are privileged in countries like America, while other identities are subject to systemic oppression. For example, a white woman is privileged on the basis of being white because racism privileges whiteness, but she is oppressed on the basis of being a woman because misogyny privileges men over women. A straight Black man and a gay Black man are both oppressed on the basis of being Black, but the straight man does not experience anti-gay bias or violence. The characters in Ace of Spades must therefore navigate the many intersections of their own identities so that they can better understand how Aces works, what impacts it has, and how best to fight back against it.

Devon experiences racism, anti-gay bias, and classism, as he comes from a poor family. Aces targets him because he is Black, Jack is disgusted by him because he is gay, and Chiamaka makes several comments about his socioeconomic status. She thinks, for instance, that his neighborhood “looks like the aftermath of an apocalypse” (334). All of these forms of oppression build on and heighten each other. Aces recruits Jack and convinces him to participate in their racism, so his racism and anti-gay attitudes compound to push him away from Devon. Just before Jack tells Devon that he deserves what is going to happen to him (with the Aces plot), he says that he had hoped Devon would “leave middle school habits in middle school” (184), referring to kissing boys.

Chiamaka has a different set of identities from Devon. She is Black, so she experiences racism, and she is a girl, so she experiences misogyny and is at increased risk of sexual violence. However, her wealth protects her from the detrimental effects of classism. She is not straight, but her relationship with Belle does not expose her to anti-gay bias within the context of the novel. This is an indication that not everyone will have the same experiences just because they have the same identities. Many factors impact people’s experiences, but that does not make the existing systems of oppression any less real or less significant. Different people may find some aspects of their identity more significant or relevant than others. For Devon, Chiamaka, and Terrell Rosario, being Black becomes an important point of connection between them as they become friends and fight against Aces.