How does racial trauma affect the characters in the novel? What are the lasting effects of racial trauma and the trauma of slavery?

Why did Miss Sally teach Pheby to read, write, and play piano? How did her education affect Pheby’s resilience and resistance?

Ruth tells Pheby that she must always be available to white people while remaining invisible. How does this idea resonate within the current social and political climate in the United States and the division of American labor?