ike out at the real cause of his economic problems, he turned his anger inward at his family. But Emma understood that he was not angry at her. Emma told her, Moody writes, "If these damn white folks ain't shootin' niggers' brains out they are starvin' them to death. A nigger can't make it no way he try . . ." (208). Instead of addressing the real problem, the black community turned on itself. Moody's own father abandoned his family when he could not find work. Racism often indirectly caused the destruction as well as the break up of the family.
Not only was the nuclear family a casualty of racism, but also the family of Afro-Americans. Prejudice caused light-skin blacks, called yellow, to turn against their darker counter parts. Because white skin was valued in the society, the lighter blacks had advantages in being hired by whites. They were considered, and began to consider themselves, better looking a
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