Narrated in the first-person by Sweetness, the story’s title character and protagonist, “Sweetness” opens with Sweetness saying, “It’s not my fault. So you can't blame me.” Sweetness explains that her daughter Lula Ann was born with skin so dark that Sweetness was frightened. Sweetness comments that she and her husband are light-skinned, "high yellow" African Americans, so the midnight black of Lula Ann's skin makes no sense to her.
Sweetness explains that mixed-race Americans like her grandmother used to pass as white if they had straight hair, but Sweetness's mother chose not to pass, which meant she was subjected to the daily humiliation of Jim Crow–era segregation laws, being made to swear on a Bible reserved for blacks at the courthouse when she got married.
Sweetness acknowledges that it may look bad for black people to group themselves according to skin color, but Sweetness says it was the only way for members of her family to hold on to their dignity. Otherwise they might be spat on or elbowed off sidewalks by whites.
Sweetness admits that her fear of her daughter in the maternity ward prompted her to hold a blanket over Lula Ann's face and press, but she could not go through with smothering Lula Ann. She considered abandoning Lula Ann on the steps of a church but couldn't go through with that either.
Sweetness says her husband Louis accused her of having an affair when he saw the baby's black skin. Their marriage fell apart and he left her to raise the baby alone, meaning Sweetness moved into a cheaper apartment. She hid Lula Ann from the landlord, fearing he wouldn't rent to her despite the laws in place in the 1990s that said landlords couldn't discriminate against tenants based on race.
After relying on welfare payments, Sweetness says she got a night job at a hospital and Louis began sending fifty dollars a month. Sweetness raised Lula Ann to act deferentially toward others: to keep quiet and not be sassy. Sweetness justifies her instilling a sense of inferiority in her daughter as being necessary for Lula Ann to avoid provoking people's racist abuse. In a defensive tone, Sweetness says she really loves her daughter, despite being unable to see through her blackness at the beginning.
Sweetness reveals that Lula Ann grew up to make her proud, and that the last time she visited Sweetness in the nursing home where she now lives, Lula Ann was bold and confident, and looked striking in beautiful white clothes that emphasized the color of her skin. She says Lula Ann has a good job in California and rarely comes to visit anymore.
Sweetness comments that she doesn't mind the low-cost nursing home she lives in, because the nurses treat her well. Sweetness is only in her sixties but has a bone disease that requires twenty-four-hour care. Sweetness comments on the letter she recently received from her daughter. In the letter, Lula Ann enthusiastically shares news of her pregnancy but doesn't include a return address for Sweetness to mail anything back to. Sweetness wonders if the father is as black as Lula Ann. Regardless, Sweetness knows Lula Ann won't have to worry for the child in the way she did, because the world has changed, and dark-skinned black people are featured prominently in media now.
While considering how Lula Ann is punishing her for the way she raised Lula Ann, Sweetness admits she has some regret for the tough lessons she tried to teach Lula Ann, but she insists she did her best given the burden that Lula Ann was. She says she wanted to make sure Lula Ann didn't "go bad," and expresses amazement at how she ended up becoming a rich career girl.
The story closes with Sweetness addressing her daughter in a condescending tone, telling Lula Ann that she is about to find out how the world changes when one becomes a parent. She wishes Lula Ann luck and says, "God help the child."
