Racism
Racism is a theme in the stories. It is clear that even though Black people were free from slavery, they were still treated with hostility. Jim Crow and segregation represent that white people were disgusted by Black people. Perhaps it is their guilty conscience or their fear of powerful people that make them so unanimously complicit. Of course the people in the book would rather choose the status quo of racism, because to admit the truth would be to admit their own evil and hatred, which is difficult, so they make use of their privilege. There is simply no good reason for racism, nor has there ever been.
Injustice
The novel focuses a tremendous amount of its attention on injustice, pointing out logical fallacies in the judgments of the characters. This happens for white people and Black people alike, especially Bob, who is a tremendous symbol of injustice, because he betrays his own family to profit himself, and his willingness to do crime literally leads to the deaths of his "loved" ones. Otherwise, the novel focuses on white oppression in Jim Crow.
Hope and the future
Although the stories are brutal and violent, and desperately heartbreaking sometimes, the tone of the stories is actually quite resilient, because they highlight the absolute absurdity of racism, celebrating our progress since Jim Crow. That is obviously not an indication that racism doesn't exist or anything, but there is a sense of hope in the future, especially in "Fire and Cloud," where the violence is seen to be more than trauma—the heinous nature of racism and the pain of violence and torture bring Taylor some spiritual enlightenment. That's where he finds his hope, by uniting his suffering to the suffering of his community.
