Racism in "The Bluest Eye"
page 71
Junior considered the playground his own, and the schoolchildren coveted
his freedom to sleep late, go home for lunch, and dominate the playground
after school. He hated to see the swings, slides, monkey bars, and
seesaws empty and tried to get kids to stick around as long as possible.
White kids; his mother did not like him to play with niggers. She had
explained to him the difference between colored people and niggers. They
were easily identifiable. Colored people were neat and quiet; niggers
were dirty and loud. He belonged to the former group: he wore white
shirts and blue trousers; his hair was cut as close to his scalp as
possible to avoid any suggestion of wool, the part was etched into his
hair by the barber. In winter his mother put Jergens Lotion on his face
to keep the skin from becoming ashen. Even though he was light-skinned,
it was possible to ash. The line between colored and nigger was not
always clear; subtle and tell-tale signs threatened to erode it, and the
watch had to be constant.
Questions:
1) The attitude of Junior's mother is clearly going to make a strong
impression on her son and will undoubtedly affect how he views his own
race (and even himself) for the rest of his life. How is this different
from white parents who tell their white children not to play
with black kids (regardless of their skin color)?
Comments:
Morrison explores both white/black racism and black/black racism. I found
the latter to be especially prevalent in this novel which is why most of
the quotes I've pulled from the book for this topic are focused on the
tensions between the African-Americans based on their light and dark skin.
[Next] View the next Racism quote.
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