Jazz Race Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

Whitepeople literally threw money at you—just for being neighborly: opening a taxi door, picking up a package. In fact, there were streets where colored people owned all the stores, whole blocks of handsome colored men and women laughing all night and making money all day. (4.27)

And this is why the City is so appealing: You can make a living doing hospitality work, and there are black people that are making seriously decent money operating their own stores and generally having a good time. Compared to Virginia, New York City is heavenly.

Quote #5

Blues man. Black and bluesman. Blacktherefore blue man. (5.4)

Morrison engages in some wordplay to highlight the impact of racism. If you're black in 1926, you'll feel blue, because racism is seriously messed up. And you know what is literally black and blue? Bruises. Which we'd say every major character in this book carries as a result of racism.

Quote #6

One was the secret of kindness from whitepeople—they had to pity a thing before they could like it. (5.20)

Well that's a bleak thought. This lesson comes straight from Hunter's Hunter's mouth, and it refers in part to Hunter's Hunter's interaction with Golden Gray when he helps Wild deliver her baby, and also to Vera Louise's decision to keep Golden Gray when he is a vulnerable infant instead of putting him in an orphanage.