Chapter two backs up and gives historical background on slavery, segregation and the culture that kept a culture of white supremacy alive, all of which led to Henry Marrow’s shooting.
“Tobacco put food on our tables, steeples on our churches, stains on our fingers, spots on our lungs, and contradictions in our hearts.” What do you make of this statement on page 13?
“We always had good race relations here.” What is the context of this statement on page 15?
On page 17, Tyson says, ”White supremacy permeated daily life [of his childhood in Oxford, NC] so deeply that most people could no more ponder it than a fish might discuss the wetness of water.” What does that mean? In what ways did a culture of white supremacy permeate daily life in the Oxford of 1970? Do you think there are practices common in our daily lives in 2010 that our children 30 years from now will find equally unacceptable, practices that are so much a part of our daily lives now that we can’t understand problems there any more than a fish can understand water?
Page 29 explains how the book title came about. What is it from?
How do blacks’ memories of slavery differ from accounts white people tell each other?
What do cigarettes, sex, and sin have to do with segregation and this chapter? How did a pre-adolescent Tim come to an unusual understanding of some of the “facts of life” and how does that compare with your own sex education?
Who are James Baldwin and James J. Kilpatrick? What is the meaning in a televised debate of this statement by Baldwin to Kilpatrick: “You’re not worried about me marrying your daughter—you’re worried about me marrying your wife’s daughter. I’ve been marrying your daughter since the days of slavery.” (p. 39)
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