If growing up is painful for the Southern Black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat. It is an unnecessary insult.
-- Maya Angelou (Introduction paragraph Paragraph 9)

Importance: Maya's quote at the end of the Introduction is important, because it sets the tone for the rest of the book. Her recollection, that being aware of one's position in life if that position is bad is troublesome, lets the reader realize that Maya and other blacks at the time suffered not only because of their poverty and position, but because of their realization that not everyone had these same issues.

He must have tired of being crippled, as prisoners tire of penitentiary bars and the guilty tire of blame.The high-topped shoes and the cane, his uncontrollable muscles and thick tongue, and the looks he suffered of either contempt or pity had simply worn him out, and for one...
-- Willie (Chapter 2 paragraph 20)