How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"Then you get her out of here," he said with a hateful force. 'And make sure she don't come back till yo' mammy teach her what she is." (5.71)
Talk about a rude awakening. This is a major turning point—Cassie realizes that she's being judged strictly (and unfairly) on her color.
Quote #5
But someone caught [my arm] from behind, painfully twisting it, and shoved me off the sidewalk into the road. I landed bottom first on the ground. (5.91)
Mr. Simms glared down at me. "When my gal Lillian Jean says for you to get yo'self off the sidewalk, you get, you hear?" (5.92)
These days, if the father of a schoolmate did this to you, you could have his behind hauled down to the police station faster than he could say "child abuse." Or at least "child endangerment." In the time period of the novel, though, this was sadly biz as usual. Mr. Simms pushes Cassie into the street because she refuses to apologize for something that wasn't her fault (bumping into Lillian Jean).
Quote #6
"I didn't say Lillian Jean is better than you. I said Mr. Simmons only thinks she is [...]' (6.81)
"Just 'cause she's his daughter?" I asked, beginning to think Mr. Simms was a bit touched in the head. (6.82)
"No, baby, because she's white." (6.83)
Mama's hold tightened on mine, but I exclaimed, "Ah, shoot! White ain't nothin'!" (6.84)
Mama's grip did not lessen. "It is something, Cassie. White is something just like black is something. Everybody born on this earth is something and nobody, no matter what color, is better than anybody else." (6.85)
Holy Major Revelations, Batman! Mama schools Cassie on the situation, and it's not about what Cassie originally thought: that Mr. Simms thinks Lillian Jean is better just because she's his daughter. Nope. It's because she's white. Cassie finally realizes that Mean Old Mr. Simms would still have pushed her out into the road just because she's black, and he thinks white people are better.