Race Quotes in Middlesex

Immigrants were whitewashed beyond all recognition in the early 1900s, forced to shorten and change their names in an effort to appear more... what? American? Boring? We're not sure. Do you think this type of thing still happens today?

The Ford English school is another way to whitewash immigrants. Do you think other countries require immigrants to go to a school to learn their language? We can't imagine going to Holland and having to enroll in the Windmill Hollish School. They do speak Hollish there, right?

The Zebra Room is a big ol' symbol of race relations in Detroit. Or maybe it's just a nice bar to get some bootleg booze. But think about a zebra: The stripes are next to each other, but they don't blend. If they blended, there would be shades of gray. But zebras remain steadfastly black and white. Divided. Prison stripes. Hey, at least it makes a good print for handbags and shoes, right?

Oh old people, with their silly views on race. Where do you think Desdemona's racism even comes from? It's not like she's ever interacted with a black person before.

How much can you expand upon this? Have you traced your own lineage? You could be Turkish, Greek, Native American, and Vulcan for all you know.

The booming voice of W.D. Fard sounds pretty bonkers, but do you think he might have a point? What do you think humans will look like in a thousand years (if we haven't torched the planet by then or been wiped out by a rogue meteor) as a result of inter-racial coupling?

Milton's views on black people manifest in a blanket statement (to say the least). Of course, this kind of blanket is more like the smallpox-contaminated blankets that the U.S. gave to Native Americans than the warm, fuzzy kind. This is a damaging generalization Milton makes here.

Eugenides condenses years of racial tension and strife erupting into literal flames into four small words. It's kind of like if you're getting ready for the homecoming dance and you say, "I have a zit" except, you know, it's about something actually serious in this case.

We don't think that the Stephanides family deviates too far from the norm by having this opinion at this time in history. Do you think the Stephanides family's opinion on race is typical of the time? Do you think it still exists today? Is there anything wrong with this viewpoint?

This is Zora talking about how she believes that androgynous people will be the new wave of humanity. While this isn't quite a race, how are the struggles of being an intersex/hermaphrodite/androgynous person similar to those that the other minorities we've seen (Greek people, black people) go through?