White Lilacs

Content Warning: The novel contains racist language, including racial expletives, and depicts racial violence. Some of that language is replicated in this guide when directly quoting the source text, but the author’s use of racial expletives is obscured.

Even though slavery was illegal in the 1920s, Black people had been given the right to vote, and there were laws in place to ensure equality, the events of the novel explore the ways in which the white society in Dillon—and throughout much of the South—oppressed Black people. Rose Lee is initially shocked when she overhears the news that the white community wants to raze Freedom, questioning her grandfather on whether they can do something like that. However, after listening the men in her father’s barbershop, who claim that the white society can “do whatever they’ve a mind to” (26), and there is little the Black community can do to stop them, Rose Lee realizes the futility of their situation. Throughout the novel, Meyer explores this central conflict between the two communities and the ways by which the white community keeps power and maintains control.

At the meetings that Rose Lee serves, it is clear the white community has control over the most powerful people in Dillon.