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.