How we cite our quotes: (Entry. Paragraph)
Quote #4
"What do you see as our biggest problem, Mr. Griffin?" Mr. Gayle asked. "Lack of unity." "That's it," said the elderly man who ran the cafe. "Until we as a race can learn to rise together, we'll never get anywhere. That's our trouble. We work against one another instead of together. Now you take dark Negroes like you, Mr. Griffin, and me," he went on, "We're old Uncle Toms to our people, no matter how much education and morals we've got. No, you have to be almost a mulatto, have your hair conked and all slicked out and look like a Valentino. Then the Negro will look up to you. You've got class. Isn't that a pitiful hero-type?" (8.162)
We'll help you out with this quote by defining two slang terms. Conked out hair was hair that had been straightened by a chemical called congolene. It looked like this. And when Mr. Gayle refers to a Valentino, he's talking about Rudolph Valentino, who was an old school heartthrob (with straight hair).
Quote #5
It gives him a view of the white man that the white can never understand; for if the Negro is part of the black mass, the white is always the individual, and he will sincerely deny that he is "like that," he has always tried to be fair and kind to the Negro. (10.3)
Way to dehumanize people #253: always think about them in terms of a mass. That one time that black kid stepped on your toe in the lunch line? A sure sign that black people are all horrible violent thugs. Don't think like this. A) it's racist, and b) It's just plain stupid.
Quote #6
The move was on, but it was quelled by another voice: "No, let's don't. It'll just give them something else to hold against us," an older man said. A woman agreed. All of us could see the picture. (10.180)
This quote comes after the black people on a bus are not allowed to leave and use the restroom. They plot to pee on the bus, but then they decide against it. Why do you think they are self-policing themselves?