Morrison On Race

Race is like God. They were both created to generate a sense of security. In the interview with Charlie Rose, Morrison describes racial hierarchy as a "fantasy." She continues to affirm people permit race to exist because "it is safer to feel superior," and I totally agree. The only way to feel you're worth something is for there to be someone worse to compare to. It's kind of a logic issue: if there has to be light for there to be darkness, there has to be "inferior" for there to be "superior."

When Charlie Rose asks Morrison about Bacon's rebellion and it's importance, She describes it as "a kind of people's army that got together to overthrow the government." "The interesting thing," she says, "were the laws that were established after [...] because what they said was, any white can kill any black for any reason. So that poor whites, indentured whites, have a reason to have contempt and feel superior to the blacks." Racial division, Morrison adds, became "the theme of the states." In other words, race was created the moment when superiority became a skin color issue.

Morrison barely mentions Song of Salomon in the interview but the racial divison theme is present throughout her whole novel. In the beginning of the book, when the Dead family are out on their Sunday rides, Lena doubts whether black people could afford to have a summer house. Although the reasons why black people can't buy summer houses are economical, the fact that Lena believes no black can afford one implies that all blacks are poor, thus supporting the statement that blacks are inferior to whites. During the course of the novel, Guitar makes big deal about how Milkman, although a "negro," lives both the white and black life. The white life Guitar talks about consists of nice parties in Honore, a red haired girlfriend, and a house in Not Doctor Street. It is represented as the rich life, again implying that blacks are worst off just for being blacks.

But race is a two way street. White's who believe they're superior to blacks because of their skin color are racist. Blacks who hate whites for being white are racist as well. They're all fools, fighting for something that doesn't exist.