thern Ohio community located near Lake Erie. Her father was George Wofford, a man with whom she had a complicated relationship. On the one hand, she gained from him an attitude of distrust for whites, something she is fully aware of today:
My father was a racist. As a child in Georgia, he received shocking impressions of adult white people, and for the rest of his life felt he was justified in despising all whites, and that they were not justified in despising him (Samuels and Hudson-Weems 5).
However, critics also suggest that her father "impressed a positive self image upon his daughter" and that "although Morrison's father died before she began her third novel, she continues to hold up her accomplishments for his approval" (Samuels and Hudson-Weems 5). Morrison's novels show the importance of family ties and of an understanding of one's background. She also emphasizes the importance of community, including for her the racial commu
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