t have many of the characteristics of a black person. She believes that in order to be beautiful, a girl cannot have hair that appears to be straightened by a hot comb; rather you should have curly hair. And you must be dressed well. In her opinion it helps if your mother is a schoolteacher, because then you will probably have nice clothes and be somewhat intelligent.Brooks talks about holidays as well. She discusses how they are white influenced. She explains how she didn’t mind that Santa Clause is white. She says:It did not trouble me, then, that Santa was white and Christ and Christmas were offered as white, except for That One of the “wise men,” with role ever slurred, ever understated. (Report From Part One, 43)When she was young it didn’t bother her that Santa Clause was white, as she grew up and developed her own opinions the world and her own blackness it began to bother her. She feels as though her child is being drawn into a white world in which she cannot escape. This further frustrates both the reader and the main character. She does not understand why she has to be made to feel like she must up to meet the white standards. She begins to feel as though Christmas is the biggest and most important holiday and how a white male symbolizes it. Maud Martha made many of the same implications. When Martha is discussing the holidays she is constantly referring to the stimuli that experiences in terms of color. She talks about Halloween and the yellow burning pumpkins and birthdays and the pink and white candles and ice cream. She talks about the dinner table at home having a white tablecloth also. Brooks’ emphasis on color also works to emphasize the main theme in her works. This is again the issue of race and color and how color plays a major role in how we go about our every day lives. The extensive use of color also helps to emphasize in the readers mind the underlying issue that is ...
