"Recitatif" by Toni Morrison (1983)

Two girls of different races meet in an orphans' shelter and meet again four more times as their lives evolve.

Story Review: "Recitatif" is Toni Morrison's only short story. She said that she wrote it "as a lark" and yet Zadie Smith wrote an introduction to the book longer than the story itself and readers bend themselves into pretzels trying to deal with it. There's that much to it: an examination of our internal prejudices, a projection of a post-racial world where race is still all-important. As an experiment or exercise designed to encourage thought and debate it reminds of "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" (1973) by Ursula K. Le Guin, and as a short story that can provoke endless discussion, Zadie Smith rightly adds "Bartleby the Scrivener" (1853) and "The Lottery" (1948). Both stories can drive people crazy with their open-ended misty murk. "Recitatif," too. Morrison intended to use class codes but not racial codes, meaning to provoke and enlighten. But in America class codes are read as racial codes, race as caste. She wrote about the characters Twyla, Roberta, and Maggie in a much more complicated way by not relying on racial identity, and made them persons. There are racial codes and signposts in society -- but which way they point is harder to say. As in the story, either a black or white parent is more likely to say that the other race smells funny, or won't shake hands, or wears large religious symbols, or will bring food to their child. And there are individuals within the races. One might say a black mother might bring food, but an Italian-American mother might be equally likely to do so, and some would think a WASPy mom might not. Once the reader realizes that Morrison has deliberately mixed the racial markers between Twyla and Roberta and there's no way to racially identify either, the reader can then accept them both as people and observe what they make of the situation, racially or otherwise. It doesn't matter which is which, they're equal in feeling racially aggrieved whatever has happened in their lives. All that disguises the central issue, which is Maggie. Maggie is their shared past and their shared victim of prejudice, who is the true "other," with a disability and of indeterminate race, immensely vulnerable and subject to torment by everyone, black and white. Even without racial markers, race still intrudes. Interesting to note there are no significant male characters, as if Morrison wanted to keep a narrow focus on race. Some might question the reduction to two races. In the eastern U.S. people often see only two races, but in the western U.S. there's more recognition of a diversity of colors, ethnicities, and national origins called "races." Having worked in a field where awareness of racial differences was a job requirement this short story hit a lot of buttons for me. That work required we turn off racial expectations (at least aloud) and see only through the eyes of those involved. Not always easy, but I think something like what Morrison is talking about. By the way, I looked it up: a "recitatif" is a musical term identifying a free vocal style imitating the natural inflections of  speech and used for dialogue in performance. In "Recitatif" Morrison wanted to alter the language, to free it, not repress or confine but to open it up. By opening up the language she unlocks our minds and allows discussion to unfold.  [4★]