Summary

Chapter 13, “sound and fury” (177), features a poem, along with notes about the “white cube” (178) as the standard art exhibition space, particularly popular in Germany during the reign of Hitler. In the poem, Rankine addresses whiteness and white people's inability to address or atone for the history of racial oppression.

In Chapter 14, “big little lies” (183), Rankine is talking to a friend about the HBO show Big Little Lies, comparing their real-life class status to the characters on the show. As she is doing so, she realizes she almost forgot for a moment that her friend is white—“her wealth goes back to the Mayflower” (185)—and she is black, so their social circumstances are actually very different. She declares that her friend's whiteness “ensures a level of citizenry, safety, mobility, and belonging I can never have” (189). She appreciates her friendship...