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"Like most Negroes in America, he lived in a nation with statues and decrees that consigned him as an equal but not equal, his life bound by a set of rules and regulations in matters of equality that largely did not apply to him."

This quote appears in Chapter 4 of the novel, when Nate ventures outside to search for Dodo after Addie reveals the boy is missing. The quote is situated within a paragraph of the text exploring Nate's character and the things and people he chooses to value. The quote also ties into larger themes about the paradoxical plight of being Black in America in the 1920s. Throughout the nation, Black people are told that there are laws in place that guarantee them equality when in reality, the laws offer merely a facade. The system is designed to maintain oppression and injustice while celebrating the sham that is nationwide justice and equality. The rules and regulations that the quote refer to are used to uphold and codify institutionalized racism. As a result, Nate does not hold true allegiance to the country, instead directing all of his devotion to Addie and Dodo.

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