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Joyce is a young Black woman whom Barack meets at Occidental. She’s proud of her multiracial heritage and has ancestors who are Italian, African, French, and Native American. However, she angrily asserts that she’s an individual and feels pressured by Black people in particular to choose a race with which to identify. Barack resents her for this, though he also recognizes that, like her, he wants to be seen as an individual, not just a stereotypical Black person.
Joyce Quotes in Dreams from My Father
The Dreams from My Father quotes below are all either spoken by Joyce or refer to Joyce. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 5
Quotes
The minority assimilated into the dominant culture, not the other way around. Only white culture could be neutral and objective. Only white culture could be nonracial, willing to adopt the occasional exotic into its ranks. Only white culture had individuals. And we, the half-breeds and the college-degreed, take a survey of the situation and think to ourselves, Why should we get lumped in with the losers if we don’t have to?
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Dreams from My Father LitChart as a printable PDF.
Joyce Quotes in Dreams from My Father
The Dreams from My Father quotes below are all either spoken by Joyce or refer to Joyce. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 5
Quotes
The minority assimilated into the dominant culture, not the other way around. Only white culture could be neutral and objective. Only white culture could be nonracial, willing to adopt the occasional exotic into its ranks. Only white culture had individuals. And we, the half-breeds and the college-degreed, take a survey of the situation and think to ourselves, Why should we get lumped in with the losers if we don’t have to?
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
