How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Driving Miss Daisy.
Quote #7
HOKE: Somebody done bombed the temple.
Daisy experiences prejudice of her own when her Jewish temple is bombed. She's so shaken up she refuses to believe it at first. The 1958 Atlanta temple bombing, the fourth synagogue bombing in Atlanta in just over a year, was carried out by white supremacists who objected to the temple's Rabbi, Jacob Rothschild, advocating desegregation.
Quote #8
HOKE: I remember one time back down there in Macon. Lord, I couldn't have been more than 10 or 11 years old, I reckon. I had this friend named Porter. One day, there his daddy was, hanging in a tree. […] Had his hand tied behind him. Flies was all over him. I tell you, I threw up right where I was standing. You go on and cry.
DAISY: I'm not crying. Why did you tell me that story?
HOKE: Lord, I don't know, Miss Daisy. That mess back there put me in mind of it.
DAISY: Ridiculous! The temple has nothing to do with that!
HOKE: Yes, ma'am, if you say so.
Hoke attempts to share a tragic memory of of his own with Miss Daisy to let her know he understands the shock of a horrific act of prejudice and hate. He tells her that the people who bombed the temple are the same ones behind the lynchings of blacks. It's difficult to tell if she's being callous because she's still in shock, or if she really believes what she says. Regardless, she totally disregards Hoke's pain.
Quote #9
BOOLIE: Can I ask you something? When did you get so fired up about Martin Luther King? You weren't before.
DAISY: Why, Boolie! I've never been prejudiced in my life, and you know it.
We've seen a lot more of Miss Daisy at this point, and she hasn't really changed. She can still talk the talk, but she has yet to walk the walk. We like to think that Daisy's relationship with Hoke is making her rethink some of her attitudes.