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Walter White is James Weldon Johnson’s right-hand man at the NAACP as well as an important figure in the civil rights movement and Harlem Renaissance. By the racial standards of the Jim Crow South where he grew up, White is Black, although his skin is so light that he can easily “pass” (appear to be a white person). He chooses not to after a frightening brush with racialized violence in his childhood. White’s light skin proves to be an asset after the NAACP recruits him and puts him to work investigating lynchings in the South. White is also a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance, since his connections (and fair skin) give him the opportunity to introduce important Black artists and writers to the New York publishing industry. And White’s own debut novel, The Fire in the Flint, receives wide acclaim on its publication in 1924. When the Sweet case comes to his attention, Johnson dispatches White to Detroit to organize the NAACP’s involvement and support. There, White quickly alienates the Black lawyers representing the Sweets and their friends, Julian Perry, Cecil Rowlette, and Charles Mahoney by his insistence on adding a white lawyer to the team. Although White’s flashy personal style and admitted distaste for darker-skinned Black people make him enemies in the civil rights movement, including W. E. B. Du Bois, his tireless work during the Sweet trials helps to win the defendants’ acquittal and establishes the financial groundwork for the NAACP’s legal defense fund. When he succeeds Johnson as executive secretary, he continues his mentor’s strategy of legal challenges, eventually shepherding the Brown v. Board of Education case—a landmark of the civil rights movement—to the Supreme Court shortly before his death in 1954.
Walter White Quotes in Arc of Justice
The Arc of Justice quotes below are all either spoken by Walter White or refer to Walter White. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 7
Quotes
Ossian was quoted as saying in late September, “I am willing to stay indefinitely in the cell and be punished. I feel sure by the demonstration made by my people that they have confidence in me as a law-abiding citizen. I denounce the theory of Ku Kluxism and uphold the theory of manhood with a wife and tiny baby to protect.” Tough as nails on the night of the shooting, Gladys became in White’s hands a black Madonna, her arms aching for the child she could not hold. “Though I suffer and am torn loose from my fourteen-month-old baby,” she said, “I feel it is my duty to the womanhood of the race. If I am freed I shall return and live at my home on Garland Avenue.”
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Chapter 10
Quotes
Ossian’s sense of himself soared with all the acclaim. When the Harlem rally was finished, Walter White dispatched the Sweets on a six-day tour of NAACP branches. The association wanted the couple simply to appear at each venue, say a few words of thanks, and stand by quietly while the association’s director of branches […] appealed for contributions. But whenever Ossian saw the people waiting for him […] he began to hold forth like the luminary everyone said he was […] Although he claimed to be no orator, Ossian “thundered” at his audiences, according to the Chicago Defender, trying to impress them with a mix of exaggeration, self-righteousness, and more than a touch of arrogance.
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Walter White Quotes in Arc of Justice
The Arc of Justice quotes below are all either spoken by Walter White or refer to Walter White. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 7
Quotes
Ossian was quoted as saying in late September, “I am willing to stay indefinitely in the cell and be punished. I feel sure by the demonstration made by my people that they have confidence in me as a law-abiding citizen. I denounce the theory of Ku Kluxism and uphold the theory of manhood with a wife and tiny baby to protect.” Tough as nails on the night of the shooting, Gladys became in White’s hands a black Madonna, her arms aching for the child she could not hold. “Though I suffer and am torn loose from my fourteen-month-old baby,” she said, “I feel it is my duty to the womanhood of the race. If I am freed I shall return and live at my home on Garland Avenue.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Unlock explanations and citation info for this and every other Arc of Justice quote.
Plus so much more...
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Chapter 10
Quotes
Ossian’s sense of himself soared with all the acclaim. When the Harlem rally was finished, Walter White dispatched the Sweets on a six-day tour of NAACP branches. The association wanted the couple simply to appear at each venue, say a few words of thanks, and stand by quietly while the association’s director of branches […] appealed for contributions. But whenever Ossian saw the people waiting for him […] he began to hold forth like the luminary everyone said he was […] Although he claimed to be no orator, Ossian “thundered” at his audiences, according to the Chicago Defender, trying to impress them with a mix of exaggeration, self-righteousness, and more than a touch of arrogance.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
