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Jim Crow made it an even bigger stigma to be colored, and any hope of equality between the races came to a grinding halt. Papa used to say that real equality would come as Negroes became more educated and owned their own land. Negroes had to support each other, he used to say.

This quotation appears in Part IV, “Jim Crow Days,” at the end of Chapter 10. Sadie and Bessie reflect on their earliest encounters with Jim Crow. Though on a certain level, the young girls know they are treated as second-class citizens before they encounter the laws first-hand, the laws offer confirmation. Before the laws become common practice in 1896, the girls are aware that their grandparents on their mother’s side, an interracial couple, are not married. Bessie senses the hostility of racist rebby boys before she encounters institutionalized racism. But when the girls are sent to the back of a trolley car and denied service at their limeade counter, there is no longer any question about Black people gaining respect. Even their parents cannot contest these laws. Their situation moves their father to believe even more strongly in the power of education and self-reliance. He feels that if Black people succeed despite obstacles, they can wear down the laws over time. In a few decades, others, including his daughter Bessie, will take a more aggressive approach to toppling the Jim Crow laws.

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