How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Gentlemen of the jury, [. . .]. Look at the shape of this skull, this face as flat as the palm of my hand—look deeply into those eyes. Do you see a modicum of intelligence?" (1.13)
You may be surprised to learn that this guy is supposedly trying to defend Jefferson. To do so, he's calling on deep-seated prejudices about race and intelligence. Supposedly, his African features will convey to the jury that he has no human intelligence and therefore cannot be held responsible for his supposed crimes. Yuck.
Quote #2
He hated himself for the mixture of his blood and the cowardice of his being, and he hated us for daily reminding him of it. (8.34)
Grant remembers his own teacher, Matthew Antoine, who was mixed race. This shows us that racial prejudices and stereotypes don't have to come from outside—Professor Antoine has internalized society's prejudice and holds it against himself.
Quote #3
"Don't be a damned fool. I am superior to you. I am superior to any man blacker than me." (8.39)
This might be a case of someone trying to convince himself of something. Professor Antoine protests too much about his so-called superiority: he judges people in, ironically, the exact same way he's being judged. It's as though he wants to believe that he can order the world based on degrees of blackness, but deep down he knows that superiority has a lot more to do with character than surface.