# data[].attributes.headline
"They was going to see two (n word plural), two beasts, who had touched a White woman" (253).

# data[].attributes.subject
"They was going to see two (n word plural), two beasts, who had touched a White woman" (253).

# data[].attributes.body
Pop is explaining to Jojo how Richie had died. he explains that before he died he was forced to accompany Blue, a black man at Parchman, after witnessing Blue attempted to rape a white girl. Pop continued to explain that when the word spread that the girl was touched, Richie was going to be guilty by association. No matter Richie's innocence, he was viewed equal to Blue because of his skin. The quote describes the hate that white people in the delta have on people of color, that regardless of their actions the two of them wouldn't be viewed as humans, but as beasts. It makes sense in the context of the quote for Blue to be viewed as a vial and a horrible person, because he is a rapist. The contrast between white vs black is highlighted in the idea that Richie, due to his skin, is viewed as an equal to Blue, a rapist. This quote connects back to when Jojo was handcuffed by the police officer earlier in the book. After hearing that they were coming from Parchman, he viewed Michael who was just in jail, the same as Jojo, a young and completely innocent boy.

# data[].attributes.headline
"And I knew that when it came to the two of them, when it came to Blue and Richie, they wasn't going to tell no difference" (253).

# data[].attributes.subject
"And I knew that when it came to the two of them, when it came to Blue and Richie, they wasn't going to tell no difference" (253).

# data[].attributes.body
Pop reflects on Blue and Richie being chased down by the gunmen from Parchman. Blue was a rapist who beat up a woman in Parchman, while Richie was just a kid who stole food. Even though Blue was a much worse person than Richie, they were about to be treated the same by the gunmen. Pop tells Jojo that the white people did not care about if Richie is a good person or not, they just saw him as a black man who ran away from prison. In addition, Pop claims that the gunmen weren't going to be able to tell the difference between Richie and Blue. However, Richie is a little boy and Blue is fully grown. The gunmen really were going to be able to tell the difference, they just wouldn't care. The fact that they would not care whether Richie was a good person or not makes us believe that they wanted to kill Blue and Richie just because they were black, not because they were rapists and ran away.

# data[].attributes.headline
"The officer looks between the two and makes his decision and walks toward Jojo, his third pair of handcuffs out" (163).

# data[].attributes.subject
"The officer looks between the two and makes his decision and walks toward Jojo, his third pair of handcuffs out" (163).

# data[].attributes.body
After getting pulled over, an officer unjustly chose to handcuff Leonie and Michael, without providing a valid justification for doing so. The cop's actions were unquestionably racist. Through Leonie's narrations, she explains how, after the decision to hand cuff Leonie and Micheal, the officer looked between Misty, an adult white woman, and Jojo, a young black child. The cop then then decides to put handcuffs on Jojo and not Misty, perceiving Jojo as a greater threat due to  his race. The event connects back to when Pop was brought to Parchman. Pop was taken to Parchman because the officers associated him with an incident his brother was in. During the event white boys were involved, yet faced no crime, similar to how Misty was in the car, but was not handcuffed. both events call attention to racial bias and prejudice that occur when white and black individuals are involved in situations involving law enforcement. The similarities to both situations reveal how racism has not decreased through the years, instead, it has simply evolved into a modern form.

# data[].attributes.headline
"Big Joseph falls into an armchair and wrenches it to the television. 'Figured they'd be rude' he says... 'They're shy' Michael says" (206).

# data[].attributes.subject
"Big Joseph falls into an armchair and wrenches it to the television. 'Figured they'd be rude' he says... 'They're shy' Michael says" (206).

# data[].attributes.body
Ward implies that Big Joseph "figured" Jojo and Kayla would be rude because they are black. It is ironic how Big Joseph is calling Jojo and Kayla rude when he is the one being extremely disrespectful to them. He stated that they weren't welcome in his house and instead of talking to his grandchildren, he sits in his chair and faces the television. Also, Michael responds to Big Joseph's disrespect by explaining that Jojo and Kayla are just shy. Instead of confronting his father and telling him that he is the one being rude, he makes an excuse as to why Jojo and Kayla are like this, even though they did nothing wrong. This makes it seem like Michael is defending his father's actions and agrees that the children are being rude, which we know he doesn't believe. Although we see Michael stand up to his father later in the chapter after things escalate, Michael's passiveness in this circumstance points to how he is afraid of Big Joseph and afraid to confront his racism.

# data[].attributes.headline
"Hell, they half of her. Part of that boy Riv, too. All bad blood. Fuck the skin" (Ward 207).

# data[].attributes.subject
"Hell, they half of her. Part of that boy Riv, too. All bad blood. Fuck the skin" (Ward 207).

# data[].attributes.body
Leonie is fearful of Big Joseph both for his racism and for his connections to the death of her brother. However, this does not stop her from entering the house and seeing the menacing man. Leonie, with her children, enter the house and are only there for a few moments before they are insulted by Big Jospeh. Leonie, Jojo, and Kayala, in being in an unfamiliar and hostile environment are already very intimidated by Big Joseph as they know that he does not welcome their company. However, this hostility increases as Big Joseph blatantly tells of his disliking for the guests when he insults their family and their heritage. Despite the fact that Leonie, Jojo, and Kayla are directly related to Big Joseph, he still has a strong prejudice against the family because of their skin color. Leonie has certainly not played the expected motherly role that she should in their lives. She, like many others, is flawed and has complications that interfere with her relationship with her children. However, Leonie still cares, and loves her children, and while she may not always show it, we know from previous examples, she still worries for her family. The same is certainly not true with Big Joseph as he has family connections in Leonie and Jojo and Kayla, but he has instead chosen to sever those connections because of his belief in racism and racist ideologies. From this, one may infer that while Big Joseph is family of Leonie and her children, he has no love for them because of racism and he will continue to use racism as a barrier between himself, and Leonie and the children.

# data[].attributes.headline
"Was a Black man... stepped too close to her... and brushed up against her real close-like... The White woman spat, cursed the Black man and woman, and the Black woman say she sorry. That her man ain't mean to do it... The White woman went home and told her husband that the Black man molested her and his woman disrespected her... people went out in the woods and found them the next day... beat them so bad they eyes disappered in they swollen heads" (Ward 187-188).

# data[].attributes.subject
"Was a Black man... stepped too close to her... and brushed up against her real close-like... The White woman spat, cursed the Black man and woman, and the Black woman say she sorry. That her man ain't mean to do it... The White woman went home and told her husband that the Black man molested her and his woman disrespected her... people went out in the woods and found them the next day... beat them so bad they eyes disappered in they swollen heads" (Ward 187-188).

# data[].attributes.body
In this scene, a woman from Parchman is telling Richie of the recent lynching of a black man and his black wife. The story is very graphic, and Richie and River can not help but to be disgusted and fearful of the events that were told to them. In the story, a black man and his black wife touch a white woman by accident while walking on a road, despite the wife apologizing, the white woman goes home to tell her husband of what had happened to her. However, the white woman lies and tells her husband that the black man raped her, and the black woman was rude to her. The white husband, in hearing this, gets a group together of him and his racist friends who embark on a search to find the black man and the black woman. Once located, the couple are brutally murdered. So badly that they are described as not having eyes, and not even slightly resembling their former selves. While the white woman may have had personal reasons for igniting the flame that would eventually lead to the death of the couple, one may infer from this that the white woman was racially motivated to lie to her husband, as she believed that the black couple was inferior to her. One may also infer that racial encounters and stories of lynchings of black people will continue throughout the story. The white woman was unable to realize that the black husband and wife were humans as well who make mistakes just like her, and instead saw them as nothing more than an inconvenience on the road. In feeling this way, the woman lied to her husband of the events that actually happened and indirectly killed a black man and woman.

# data[].attributes.headline
"But it was something about a colored man running the dogs; that was wrong. There had always been bad blood between dogs and Black people: they were bred adversaries-slaves running from the slobbering hounds, and then the convict man dodging them" (Ward 138).

# data[].attributes.subject
"But it was something about a colored man running the dogs; that was wrong. There had always been bad blood between dogs and Black people: they were bred adversaries-slaves running from the slobbering hounds, and then the convict man dodging them" (Ward 138).

# data[].attributes.body
Richie describes how people in Parchman thought that a black man taking care of dogs was wrong. The people in Parchman believed that the only relationship between a dog and a black man was that the dogs hunt the black men. Richie quite literally describes the dogs as "bred adversaries" which implies that the dogs where bred to be better at hunting and tracking down black men. Typically, dogs are though of to be loving animals that show affection to all people regardless the person. In essence, dogs are believed to carry all the good traits of humans such as love, care, and gratitude, but do not display the negative ones such as hatred, disgust, and racism. Quite the contrary is true from this quote as the dogs are told to be enemies of black people who hunt them and do not target white people in the same way. One may infer from this that the white people of Parchman do not want black people to train and care for the dogs because they do not want black people to share the benefits of a dogs' upside the same way that white people do. In a larger sense, one may infer that black people will continue to see limitations when it comes to their rights and privileges in comparison to white people throughout the story.

# data[].attributes.headline
"Those moments blinked around me like fireflies in the dark. I caught them in my hands and held them to me, a golden handful of light, before swallowing them. I would tell Jojo this: That was no place for hope" (139).

# data[].attributes.subject
"Those moments blinked around me like fireflies in the dark. I caught them in my hands and held them to me, a golden handful of light, before swallowing them. I would tell Jojo this: That was no place for hope" (139).

# data[].attributes.body
Richie is reliving his experience at Parchman and recalls these moments of light in the midst of dark times. He compares the moments of running outside with River and the dogs to fireflies in the dark. From this comparison we can conclude that the light is good and dark is bad because running with the dogs was one of the only things that made Richie happy in a place that was filled with darkness. He also explains that Parchman was "no place for hope." This leads us to believe that light symbolizes hope because, just like the light, there was almost no hope in Parchman. Furthermore, it is possible that Richie was implying that white people (light) have much more hope and are treated better in Parchman than black people (dark).

# data[].attributes.headline
"Just enough to remind me that we was in the store, around a bunch of White people, and that I needed to mind my manners" (128).

# data[].attributes.subject
"Just enough to remind me that we was in the store, around a bunch of White people, and that I needed to mind my manners" (128).

# data[].attributes.body
In this scene Jojo is reflecting on a time when he was in the store with Mam. He states that he would get excited in the store when he saw candy or something else he wanted to buy, but Mam would stop him. Jojo explains that he needed to be respectful because there was a bunch of White people in the store. Even though a kid acting excited in a store is something all kids do, Mam still feels like Jojo needs to be well mannered because they will be viewed differently by the white people. This act of awareness points to how Mam just wants to fit in with the crowd and does not want to be seen as a black individual, but rather as a human being. This is similar to how Leonie feels and was part of the reason Leonie started dating Michael in the first place; because he was able to look past her skin. I think Mam adapted this attitude of fitting in with the crowd as a result of Given's death. I also believe that, similar to Pop, Mam generally doesn't trust white people. This is why she feels the need to be cautious, even when she is doing everyday things like buying groceries.

# data[].attributes.headline
"I hear them four words over and over again when we get in the car and i watch Misty put the package in the pocket under the floorboards. You better take advantage. She said them words as though decisions have no consequences, when, of course, its been easier for her" (91).

# data[].attributes.subject
"I hear them four words over and over again when we get in the car and i watch Misty put the package in the pocket under the floorboards. You better take advantage. She said them words as though decisions have no consequences, when, of course, its been easier for her" (91).

# data[].attributes.body
As the story progresses, Leonie is becoming progressively more open about her thoughts and emotions with the reader.   Leonie is tired and frustrated with her friend Misty, who is consistently acting naive, overlooking her white privilege. After hiding illegal drugs, Misty is described as carefree, urging Leonie to take advantage of the current opportunity. While Misty is portrayed as stress-free, Leonie is very anxious, concerned with the consequences of getting caught. After Misty suggests that Leonie should take advantage, Leonie becomes livid. Misty's easy going attitude reflects the privilege she encounters because of her pale skin, whereas Leonie's stress and worrying represents the contrast between the two, and how they are viewed and treated in society. Leonie expresses to the reader the urge to slap her friend out of sheer anger.  Leonie states, "her freckles, her thin pink lips, her blond hair, the stubborn milkness of her skin; how easy it had been for her, her whole life, to make the world a friend to her." Leonie's jealousy toward Misty reflects her frustration and resentment, and symbolizes the anger that can emerge from the experiences and fear pf racist treatment and unequal opportunity.

# data[].attributes.headline
"This ain't no place for no man. Black or White. Don't make no difference. This a place for the dead" (Ward 96).

# data[].attributes.subject
"This ain't no place for no man. Black or White. Don't make no difference. This a place for the dead" (Ward 96).

# data[].attributes.body
Here, Jojo recalls what Michael last wrote to Leonie which was the type of place Parchman is, and how it is not fit for anyone. In this setting, black people were treated far worse both in prison and out of it, than white people were. However, Michael mentions that Parchman is unsuitable for neither race, nor is even a tolerable place for the living entirely. In doing so, Michael is going beyond the typical racial norms and uniting both black and white people under the common belief of how horrible Parchman Prison is. Although race is a crucial split between society in this setting, the perils and traumatic memories that the prisoners had to endure during their time in Parchman is far beyond any divide that society could offer as both races recall similar dreadful experiences. From this, one may infer that Michael will continue to tell stories/write stoires of Parchman to Jojo, and as the stories get deeper, the racial divide between white and black will slowly fade into the fact that both peoples are prisoners.

# data[].attributes.headline
"I wanted to punch her in the face. 'I told you.' 'Yeah, you lied again.' But I knew this was her cottage, and when it came down to it, I'm Black and she's white, and if someone  heard us tussling and decided to call the cops, I'd be going to jail. Nor her. Best friend and all" (36).

# data[].attributes.subject
"I wanted to punch her in the face. 'I told you.' 'Yeah, you lied again.' But I knew this was her cottage, and when it came down to it, I'm Black and she's white, and if someone  heard us tussling and decided to call the cops, I'd be going to jail. Nor her. Best friend and all" (36).

# data[].attributes.body
Leonie, who is African American, is best friends with Misty, who is white. Leonie can see her brother's ghost when she is high. Instead of worrying about her friend, she fibs about seeing ghosts and claims to see lights and shapes. Misty  caught Leonie lying and demanded the truth. For instance, Misty states, "yeah you lied again". Although it is clear to the reader that Leonie was not being completely truthful, Misty not trusting Leonie frustrated her. Leonie refused to allow her own frustration to get above her, being well aware of the possible consequences if she did. She explained that if her and Misty were to have a heightened disagreement, that due to the color of her skin, she would be the one to get in trouble. To add on, her friend would be viewed as innocent due to her white privilege. When Leonie highlights the idea of black vs white, emphasizing the separation between the two friends; she indirectly explains that she is often feeling unequal. The quote displays the limitations on Leonie and Misty's friendship, due to racial bias and privilege.

# data[].attributes.headline
"That's what a White man had to do to return to Parchman, even if he was free because he had escaped: a White man had to murder," (139).

# data[].attributes.subject
"That's what a White man had to do to return to Parchman, even if he was free because he had escaped: a White man had to murder," (139).

# data[].attributes.body
Chapter six is narrated from the perspective of Richie, a young boy from Pop's time at Parchman.  Richie recalls moments from his time at Parchman. He explains explains that a white man named Hogjaw had escaped prison, later returning because he had murdered a person. the quote highlights the idea of racial injustice and racial bias, when explaining how much a white man had to do to end up in  Parchman. The quote displays racial injustice through the fact that Hogjaaw had to commit murder after escaping to be sent back to Parchman, although Richie was sent to the same place after taking food because he was starving, and Pop was sent to Parchman because of false accusations. The text showcases a clear divide between the privileges of white and black people, through how they are viewed by society and treated by law enforcement. A man who has murdered is viewed as an equal criminal to a young boy who stole food to feed his family. Richie goes on to explain how Hogjaw was with the guard dogs more than Pop at Parchman, regardless of his past actions or crimes. The warden's reasoning to his decision was that, "'It ain't natural for a colored man to master dogs," (139). The warden is claiming that people of color need to be mastered or controlled, connecting to the belief that black men are inferior to white men. Richie's narration, explained that racism and white privilege lingers not only in the real world, but also within the prison.

# data[].attributes.headline
"The little White boy waves his stick in the air, and then grabs it with both hands, pointing it like a rifle. His blond hair sticks to his head, curls into his eyes like worms. 'Pow pow,' he says. He is shooting at us" (Ward 79).

# data[].attributes.subject
"The little White boy waves his stick in the air, and then grabs it with both hands, pointing it like a rifle. His blond hair sticks to his head, curls into his eyes like worms. 'Pow pow,' he says. He is shooting at us" (Ward 79).

# data[].attributes.body
Jojo, being mixed and in a car with two other black people, sees a little white boy pretending to shoot at him and the others in the car. As noted in many other parts of the book (e.g. Pop and his brother going to prison; Big Joseph not liking the interracial relationship between Leonie and Michael), racism is no stranger to these parts of Mississippi. In this case, a white boy pretending to shoot a gun at black people is no case of a little boy pretending to be in war, or other fantasies created by children. Instead, this is a clear example of racial influence on a child. The white boy, who has a white father, most likely had a racial encounter sometime in his life for he had begun to pretend to shoot at black people without being provoked. One may infer from this that the kid had seen racism at sometime in the past, since he does a racial action despite not even knowing the people who he pretended to, or was trying to harm. One may also infer that parents will play a large role in the novel when it comes to their children and their children's beliefs.

# data[].attributes.headline
"They look at you and see difference, son. Don't matter what you see" (48).

# data[].attributes.subject
"They look at you and see difference, son. Don't matter what you see" (48).

# data[].attributes.body
Pop says this before Given goes to hang out with his white football teammates. Pop is very clear that he wants Given to be cautious around the white people because they will always see him by the color of his skin, and treat him poorly as a result. Additionally, this quote foreshadows Given's death, as it is caused by a white man who Given should not have trusted in the first place. Pop's statement leads us to believe that he doesn't usually trust white people and he assumes most of them are racist. Because of his attitude towards white people, I believe that Pop has had poor experiences with white people far before Given's death; especially at Parchman.

# data[].attributes.headline
"Big Joseph my White grandpa, Pop my Black one. I've lived with Pop since I was born; I've seen my White grandpa twice" (4).

# data[].attributes.subject
"Big Joseph my White grandpa, Pop my Black one. I've lived with Pop since I was born; I've seen my White grandpa twice" (4).

# data[].attributes.body
In this quote Jojo makes a clear emphasis on his grandfathers' skin color. The fact that he lives with his Black grandfather and has only seen his White grandfather twice gives us an idea of how he is disconnected from his white side. He calls Big Joseph "White grandpa" which shows how he doesn't see him as real family. The divide between white and black causes Jojo to lose half of his identity as well as half of his family. Lastly, Jojo is named after Big Joseph even though he has lived with Pop his whole life. This tells us about Leonie's her loyalty toward Michael and the white side of the family.