Internal Conflict in “And Love Them?”

And Love Them? is a short story written by the black American author, Thomas Glave. Published in 2000, Glave writes through the perspective of a white, New York City business woman, emphasizing her ambivalence towards her experiences with black people. Her monologue depicts an attempt to justify her bigotry through recollection of interactions with black…

Backwacking, a Plea to the Senator

Backwacking, a Plea to the Senator is a text written in 1977 by Ralph Ellison. This narrative is about a citizen who wrote a letter to the Senator. In the letter, the white man is complaining about an abominable physical practice, according to him, among black people that he calls “backwacking”. During his piece, the…

The ‘Us vs. Them’ Dilemma – Glave’s “And Love Them?”

“And Love Them?”, a short story published in 2000 by Thomas Glave, details the inner monologue of a white woman concerning her experiences with black people throughout her life and within social situations. Glave, a black male author from the Bronx, New York, illustrates a continuous turmoil within the narrator’s perception of black people as…

White Rat

White Rat is a short story written by Gayl Jones in 1977. The White Rat is told through a narrator who is known to many of his close friends as the “white rat”, and this is because of his very white skin color while being an African-America. The short story details the White Rat’s relationship…

White Rat

The short story “White Rat,” written by Gayl Jones in 1977, details the complex relationship of a very fair skinned African-American man, who we know as “White Rat,” and his wife, Maggie. The couple has a son together, “little Henry,” and we know that he has a clubbed foot, which is the root of much…