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A review by inherbooks
Blacker the Berry... by Wallace Thurman
4.0
Whew, my jaw was clenched the entire time I read this book.
A controversial book known for its commentary on colourism? BRING IT ON. 150 pages? That’s light work. Female protagonist? I’M READY.
I wasn’t ready.
Emma Lou is a dark-complexioned black girl whose grandmother is the founder of the ‘blue veins’ in Idaho. The blue veins are a divisive group of people whose main motto is “Whiter and whiter every generation” until their offspring can pass as white and have it “easy” in life. Much to her grandmother’s disappointment, Emma Lou’s absentee father was a dark-complexioned black man who undoubtedly passed on his genetics to his daughter. Imagine being raised by people also hell-bent on wiping out your existence.
This book had me stressed and fuming – I’ve never had to deal with a protagonist whose thoughts and actions frustrated me so. I get it, Wallace Thurman didn’t intend for Emma to be likeable and he sure made sure of that. I was, and still am, angry about it all. For one, how our skin tone *still* affects our perceptions of self (and others) and the opportunities at our disposal is mind-boggling. A whole damn *century* has gone by and we’re still focused on how much melanin is an acceptable threshold. What??? And the gold standard is whiteness??? Lord.
Self-loathing leaked out in *every* thought that crossed Emma Lou’s mind. Emma Lou forgot to leave the hate at home on the escape from her childhood and haphazardly packed all of it in. From Idaho to California to Harlem, the baggage came with her. She constantly ranked people on a scale based on their skin complexion. As if the internal struggle wasn’t enough, she had to deal with blatant disdain towards her from those within the Black community.
“…People have to feel superior to something, and there is scant satisfaction in feeling superior to domestic animals or steel machines that one can train or utilize. It is much more pleasing to pick out some individual or some group of individuals on the same plane to feel superior to.”
If your purpose is rooted in keeping the next person down, pls re-evaluate *hard*.
A controversial book known for its commentary on colourism? BRING IT ON. 150 pages? That’s light work. Female protagonist? I’M READY.
I wasn’t ready.
Emma Lou is a dark-complexioned black girl whose grandmother is the founder of the ‘blue veins’ in Idaho. The blue veins are a divisive group of people whose main motto is “Whiter and whiter every generation” until their offspring can pass as white and have it “easy” in life. Much to her grandmother’s disappointment, Emma Lou’s absentee father was a dark-complexioned black man who undoubtedly passed on his genetics to his daughter. Imagine being raised by people also hell-bent on wiping out your existence.
This book had me stressed and fuming – I’ve never had to deal with a protagonist whose thoughts and actions frustrated me so. I get it, Wallace Thurman didn’t intend for Emma to be likeable and he sure made sure of that. I was, and still am, angry about it all. For one, how our skin tone *still* affects our perceptions of self (and others) and the opportunities at our disposal is mind-boggling. A whole damn *century* has gone by and we’re still focused on how much melanin is an acceptable threshold. What??? And the gold standard is whiteness??? Lord.
Self-loathing leaked out in *every* thought that crossed Emma Lou’s mind. Emma Lou forgot to leave the hate at home on the escape from her childhood and haphazardly packed all of it in. From Idaho to California to Harlem, the baggage came with her. She constantly ranked people on a scale based on their skin complexion. As if the internal struggle wasn’t enough, she had to deal with blatant disdain towards her from those within the Black community.
“…People have to feel superior to something, and there is scant satisfaction in feeling superior to domestic animals or steel machines that one can train or utilize. It is much more pleasing to pick out some individual or some group of individuals on the same plane to feel superior to.”
If your purpose is rooted in keeping the next person down, pls re-evaluate *hard*.