Race and Sexuality
The persistent and common trope of black women in sexually explicit depictions of cinematic entertainment—especially within the milieu of pornography—is given socio-political context through metaphorical association with the cultural delineations of behavioral patterns separated along racial divides:
“Black women’s portrayal in pornography as caged, chained, and naked creatures who possess “panther-like,” savage, and exotic sexual qualities reinforces this theme of Black women’s “wildness” as symbolic of an unbridled female sexuality…where Whiteness as symbolic of both civilization and culture is used to separate objects from animals.”
Mammy
The author provides an extensive analysis and examination of the stereotypical image of the Mammy figure in American history. The examination is highly complex; the final determination is metaphorically simple yet profoundly disturbing in its consequence:
“Mammy is the public face that Whites expect Black women to assume for them.”
The Misassumptions of Racism
Many people make the mistake of assuming that personal behavior is equivalent with systemic racism. Upon this argument are made such profoundly misguided assumptions that just because a white person may have a close black friend means that he cannot possibly be a racist. The reverse is also true: the assumption that because large-scale progress has made in creating more racial equality that it must reflect the experience on the localized level. The author engages a powerful metaphorical image to bring this latter disconnection into sharp relief:
“Despite important strides to desegregate U.S. society since 1970, racial segregation remains deeply entrenched in housing, schooling, and employment. For many African-American women, racism is not something that exists in the distance. We encounter racism in everyday situations in workplaces, stores, schools, housing, and daily social interaction.”
The Secret Key of White Privilege
The author provides a quote from white scholar Peggy McIntosh to more effectively comment upon the ability for those who enjoy it to do so with acknowledgement even of its very existence. McIntosh situates a learning experience within a metaphorical realm to demonstrate her point of how part of the entire package of enjoying the benefits is creating an ideological lack of awareness about it:
“I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets which I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was ‘meant’ to remain oblivious”
Blackness in America
On the singular issue of blackness in America, the author also lets another writer enjoy the privilege of creating the dominant metaphor of the book. She quotes Elena Featherston (as Featherstone) who offers a disturbing assessment of the relationship of pigmentation and American expectations:
“color is the ultimate test of ‘American-ness,’ and black is the most un-American color of all”
