How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Big Ma turned her nose up at the college girls with Afros in favor of the Negro lady in the square sunglasses and snappy suit toting the equally snappy oval bag. (1.23)
This is interesting, right? Instead of prejudice from one racial group to another, here we see Big Ma holding prejudice against other black women. What do you think her beef is with these ladies?
Quote #2
He looked like a fugitive from justice. I could spot one when I saw one. I love a good crime story, especially The F.B.I. (5.53)
This is the first peak at Crazy Kelvin. Sure, he turns out to be a double-crosser, but it makes you wonder: Is Delphine noticing something sinister and profound in his character, or is she swayed by the fact that most black people in crime shows back in the day were fugitives or criminals? Over to you, Shmoopers.
Quote #3
While I was sitting with my sisters, I made up my mind about Oakland. There was nothing and no one in all of Oakland to like. (5.68)
Delphine judges books by their cover all the time. We get that California isn't full of Disney characters and smiles like she thought it'd be, but she hardly gives it a chance. It's clear she's just prejudiced against it because of her negative feelings toward her mom.
Quote #4
The same stewardess who let the large white woman gawk at us and press money into Fern's hand wasn't so quick to hand us over to the woman I said was our mother. (3.30)
At every turn, Delphine points out the prejudice she faces. It's not that the flight attendant says anything racist; it's that she's skeptical about Cecile because of the way she looks. Delphine notices when other people use prejudice to make snap judgments but isn't so quick to notice when she's guilty of the same exact thing.
Quote #5
Vonetta and Fern eyed the wooden sticks and formulated ideas about turning them into hairpins, play-fight swords, and pickup sticks. (6.18)
Who knew you could do so many things with chopsticks? The girls aren't used to seeing—let alone eating with—chopsticks, so they think up their own fun games to play with them instead. Their mouths practically hit the floor when Cecile actually uses the chopsticks for (gasp) eating.
Quote #6
She had picked out three girls who looked alike enough to be sisters, each one as thick as my sisters and I were lanky. They wore white boots and daisy dresses with flared sleeves. They might as well have been going to a go-go, not to a free breakfast. (10.2)
While this initially seems like harmless childhood judgment, there's something insidious about Delphine's readiness to judge this girls. She forms an unfavorable impression based on these girls' appearance alone. It's not until pages later that she even learns their names (a.k.a. starts to get to know them for who they are as people).
Quote #7
It wasn't at all the way the television showed militants—that's what they called the Black Panthers. Militants, who from the newspapers were angry fist wavers with their mouths wide-open and their rifles ready for shooting. They never showed anyone like Sister Mukumbu or Sister Pat, passing out toast and teaching in classrooms. (14.3)
Before Delphine has ever met a Black Panther, she's decided the entire group is dangerous. Yep, this is partly because of the news, but it's also because she lets her prejudices get the better of her. She doesn't realize that all kinds of people are involved in the moment. Sure, some are violent, but many are peaceful and educated and invested in community building.
Quote #8
I started to think, this place is all right. […] Then I heard Crazy Kelvin say, "That's the least the racist dogs can do," and just like that, he spoiled what I thought I knew. (14.4)
Crazy Kelvin shows off prejudice at its worst. Not only is he the most vocal about how untrustworthy and deceitful he thinks the cops are, he's also a flake who goes back on his own word, perhaps revealing some prejudice against his own community. Not cool, Kelvin; not cool.
Quote #9
I didn't like having my ignorance shoved at me, especially by the likes of Eunice Ankton. But there I was. Not knowing a half-Chinese face from a half-Japanese one. I wasn't about to get a better look, so I'd know the difference. (17.23)
Okay, so no one likes finding out they are ignorant. It's easy to make snap-decisions about someone because of stereotypes about their social group or race, but it's a lot harder to acknowledge that you don't know all that much about them. On the list for Delphine? Oakland, Chinese people, Black Panthers, hippies… the list goes on.
Quote #10
It wasn't right to stare at them like they were an exhibit, but we couldn't help it. We didn't see many hippies in Brooklyn, not where we lived; and there was a whole tribe of them before us. (25.1)
Just when we thought Delphine was maturing a little bit, we're reminded that the girl is eleven. Time and again, we're shown how prejudiced and naïve she is, not as a way of making her seem mean or evil, but to remind us that she's just a kid. She's learning still, and it's a process.