Anyone who looked more white folkish than herself was better than she was in
her criteria, therefore it was right that
they should be cruel to her at times, just
as she was cruel to those more negroid
than herself in direct ratio to their
negroness. ... Insensate cruelty to those
you can whip, and groveling submission
to those you can't. Once having set up her
idols and built altars to them it was
inevitable that she would worship there.
-Their Eyes Were Watching God,
Zora Neale Hurston
What statement is Hurston making about the
African American community through the voice of
her narrator?
Some African Americans worshipped people
who were cruel; thus making the judgments
of them questionable in general.
Some African Americans followed white
superiority like a religion, judging themselves
using a social hierarchy based on skin color,
Some African Americans saw a clear line
between racial groups; therefore, all African
Americans had the same status in their eyes.
DONE