Blues Ain't No Mockingbird

Granny has been driven to her wits’ end by a racism that isn’t violent or overt. It’s a subtle form of prejudice rooted in white people’s assumptions and privilege. The narrator describes Mr. Judson “bringin us boxes of old clothes and raggedy magazines,” and Mrs. Cooper “comin in our kitchen and touchin everything and sayin how clean it all was” (132). White people have repeatedly insinuated themselves into Granny’s and her family’s lives, under the auspices of charity or politeness, and seem unaware that someone wouldn’t want old clothes or to hear the surprise in a visitor’s voice that the kitchen is so clean. Granny is exhausted from dealing with that kind of “politeness,” and she has repeatedly faced the choice of whether to keep allowing this insidious racism or to very firmly not allow it. It’s clear that Granny made her decision long ago.

In the story, the white men casually walk the property, snapping photos where they please. One of the men says, “We thought we’d take a—” and is cut off by Granny saying, “Did you?” (130). That he uses the word “take,” and that he does not phrase it as a question, shows he is used to taking what he wants in these situations; the men cannot fathom being told no.