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Bernard
A Black boy originally from Los Angeles, Ray is Barack’s best friend in high school. He’s two years older and often talks about his cool former life in L.A. He introduces Barack to the Black party scene in Hawaii and is instrumental in stoking Barack’s rage about “white folks.” However, Barack also takes issue with Ray’s hatred and dismissal of white people, as he thinks that Ray doesn’t feel the need to justify this hate. Ray also doesn’t have much time for Barack’s more measured analysis of the racism they experience and, at times, he reminds Barack that Barack is biracial to discredit his ideas.
Ray Quotes in Dreams from My Father
The Dreams from My Father quotes below are all either spoken by Ray or refer to Ray. 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 4
Quotes
White folks. The term itself was uncomfortable in my mouth at first; I felt like a non-native speaker tripping over a difficult phrase. Sometimes I would find myself talking to Ray about white folks this or white folks that, and I would suddenly remember my mother’s smile, and the words that I spoke would seem awkward and false.
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At best, these things were a refuge; at worst, a trap. Following this maddening logic, the only thing you could choose as your own was withdrawal into a smaller and smaller coil of rage, until being black meant only the knowledge of your own powerlessness, of your own defeat.
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Get the entire Dreams from My Father LitChart as a printable PDF.
Ray Quotes in Dreams from My Father
The Dreams from My Father quotes below are all either spoken by Ray or refer to Ray. 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 4
Quotes
White folks. The term itself was uncomfortable in my mouth at first; I felt like a non-native speaker tripping over a difficult phrase. Sometimes I would find myself talking to Ray about white folks this or white folks that, and I would suddenly remember my mother’s smile, and the words that I spoke would seem awkward and false.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
At best, these things were a refuge; at worst, a trap. Following this maddening logic, the only thing you could choose as your own was withdrawal into a smaller and smaller coil of rage, until being black meant only the knowledge of your own powerlessness, of your own defeat.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
