Keats, Byron, Scott John Keats, George Gordon Byron, and Sir Walter Scott are nineteenth-century Romantic poets. The attorney implies that since Jefferson lacks a formal Eurocentric education, he is not a "civilized" human being. This blatantly racist argument fails to note that blacks had been legally denied the right to learn to read and write, often upon threat of death or disfigurement, and that even now they were denied the textbooks and other resources that could enable them to study Western classics. Later in the book, we see the school superintendent suggest that students earn money to buy toothbrushes — not books.
We must live with our own conscience. The remark illustrates the irony of the situation: Southern whites often had no conscience concerning the fate of blacks, as illustrated by the defense attorney's argument.
the quarter rows of cabins associated with designated plantations, isolated from the larger world. The quarter served as a home for slaves in the nineteenth century and the homes of sharecroppers in the twentieth century. The cabins had no electricity or running water until after World War II.
I need you speak for me. Miss Emma's remark reflects the unwritten "code of silence" during the pre-Civil Rights South, when blacks were routinely denied the right to articulate their thoughts and feelings. This statement further reflects on the power of language as a recurring theme. Note the irony here, as Miss Emma seems to have no problem speaking for herself.
parish the largest local administrative district in Louisiana. A parish is the equivalent of a county in other states.
