Go Set a Watchman Race Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

"From the looks of you, Miss Priss, it'll be the blind leading the blind." (2.79)

This quote is about golf, but it has a double meaning that could be applied to the book's racial politics. Both Jean Louise and Atticus have different opinions on race, and neither of them really have any idea what they're talking about.

Quote #2

"I don't know anything about that bunch except that some misguided clerk sent me some NAACP Christmas seals last year, so I stuck 'em on all the cards I sent home." (2.94)

At first you might applaud Jean Louise's progressive politics here, until you learn that she actually despises the NAACP. She doesn't put those seals on her letters to make a progressive statement about race. She does it to be annoying. To her, making a joke is more important than having respect for another race.

Quote #3

With company came Calpurnia's company manners: although she could speak Jeff Davis's English as well as anybody, she dropped her verbs in the presence of guests; she haughtily passed dishes of vegetables; she seemed to inhale steadily. (5.191)

Note that Jean Louise/Scout says "Jeff Davis's English." This line shows us how similar Southern culture is to ancient British culture, but it's also offensive: why should Calpurnia, a black woman, have to speak Jefferson Davis's English? Jefferson Davis was the president of the Confederacy… and he fought to keep slaves.