my dream about being white

“my dream of being white” is centered around the theme of physical appearance. This is appropriate because it is physical appearance that governs so much of race, racial identity, and race-relations in addition to gender identity. The speaker is interrogating her relationship to her body, the relationship others have to her body, the judgments society puts on her body, and her reaction to those judgments. To wear a “white” (Line 10) body is also to wear “white history” (Line 12). Clifton is suggesting that a person’s body determines their history and their place in history.

At the same time, she questions the body-spirit connection. The speaker says, “me / only white” (Lines 2-3), suggesting that the speaker would be the same person, still “me” (Line 2), even if housed in a white body. This calls into question the validity of judging a person based on their physical characteristics, and it makes a case that she and all people are essentially made up of their spirit, not their physicality.

Clifton puts specific attention on “hair” (Line 4), “lips” (Line 8), and the “behind” (Line 9). These are parts of the body that distinguish African Americans from European Americans and also women from men.