bac quotes

HIERARCHIES OF POWER

highlights brutal displacement

construction os sentence reflects cold, bureaucratic violence of gov through underscoring of violence

set in sophiatown; black neighbourhood to make way for white suburb of triomf (triumph)

• white supremacy + physical detsriction of black space —> racial opression

“The government seized their home and bulldozed the area.

HIERARCHIES OF POWER

cultural diff b/w black and white relo w/ animals (dogs)

juxtaposes black peoples dogs as utilitarian tools for protection rather than companions

metaphor of poor man’s alarm system transforms dogs from living creatures to functional security devices

subtly reflects socio-economic setting of black comm

“Black people’s dogs are a poor man's alarm system.”

HIERARCHIES OF POWER

encapsulates tribal + political divisions

construction of q is abrupt + direct, reflecting anxiety + tension

use of tribal identities = metonymy for larger political struggle

portrays groups as not just ethinicity but political powerhouses

internal divisions wi black SA —> complicating united front

“Which black man would rule? Zulu or Xhosa?”

HIERARCHIES OF POWER

tribal divisions + misogyny

“oh you’re a xhosa” synecdoche; reducing Patricia to her tribal identity

“disgusting women” reflects genered + ethinic prejudices

complicates survival in already oppressive society

“Oh, you’re a Xhosa. Disgusting woman.”

HIERARCHIES OF POWER

rigid class divisions wi black communities

“social heirarchy” metonymy for structures of inquality

demonstrates that even in opressed communities, one’s residence dictates social standing —> larger inequalities created by apartheid

“The hood had a social hierarchy based on where you lived.”

dangers + social consq of being seen w/ black mother

literal inability entrenched in racial segregation

“raising too many q” metaphor reflects perfonal threat + broader societal paranoia in interracial relo

personal freedoms restrcited by laws

mothers fear reflects system tearing familial bonds in a highly racially stratified society

“I couldn’t walk with my mother, either; a light-skinned child with a black woman would raise too many questions.”