Hattie, herself mixed race with a white father, objectifies Slim the first time she sees him. She exoticizes him and his darker skin tone when she compares him to the African warriors she saw in
National Geographic growing up. The magazine is now widely criticized for portraying people of color as “exotic” and promoting stereotypes and bias. In Hattie’s majority white hometown, her only hope for finding someone to marry is at this dance. When she gets there she feels at home in a community that, for the first time in her life, is filled with people who look like her. Among these women of color, she is not alone in her struggle to find love due to her race.