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The White Union Organizer
In “The Black Ball,” Mr. Berry is the strict, humorless building manager who employs John. As Berry has been systematically firing his Black employees and replacing them with white people, John works especially hard to stay on his good side. However, in the early 1900s, this simply isn’t enough to counteract the effects of racism. At the end of the story, when a white boy throws John’s son’s ball into Mr. Berry’s window, ruining one of his plants, Berry furiously blames John and threatens to fire him. Berry’s actions show how racism holds Black people back, limiting their job opportunities and enabling white people to scapegoat them for any problems that arise. His behavior pushes John to join the organizer’s labor union, which might be his best chance at winning back some power as a worker.
Mr. Berry Quotes in The Black Ball
The The Black Ball quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Berry or refer to Mr. Berry. 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:
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The Black Ball
Quotes
There must be no flaws this morning. Two fellows who worked at the building across the street had already been dismissed because whites had demanded their jobs, and with the boy at that age needing special foods and me planning to enter school again next term, I couldn’t afford to allow something like that out on the sidewalk to spoil my chances.
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Why, I thought, doesn’t he go on in and ask for the job? Why bother me? Why tempt me to choke him? Doesn’t he know we aren’t afraid to fight his kind out this way?
“Well, if I ever see him around here again, you’re going to find yourself behind the black ball. Now get him on round to the back and then come up here and clean up this mess he’s made.”
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“Will I play with the black ball, Daddy?”
“In time son,” I said. “In time.”
He had already played with the ball; that he would discover later. He was learning the rules of the game already, but he didn’t know it. Yes, he would play with the ball. Indeed, poor little rascal, he would play until he grew sick of playing. My, yes, the old ball game. But I’d begin telling him the rules later.
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My hand was still burning from the scratch as I dragged the hose out to water the lawn, and looking down at the iodine stain, I thought of the fellow’s fried hands, and felt in my pocket to make sure I still had the card he had given me. Maybe there was a color other than white on the old ball.
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Get the entire The Black Ball LitChart as a printable PDF.
Mr. Berry Quotes in The Black Ball
The The Black Ball quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Berry or refer to Mr. Berry. 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:
).
The Black Ball
Quotes
There must be no flaws this morning. Two fellows who worked at the building across the street had already been dismissed because whites had demanded their jobs, and with the boy at that age needing special foods and me planning to enter school again next term, I couldn’t afford to allow something like that out on the sidewalk to spoil my chances.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Why, I thought, doesn’t he go on in and ask for the job? Why bother me? Why tempt me to choke him? Doesn’t he know we aren’t afraid to fight his kind out this way?
“Well, if I ever see him around here again, you’re going to find yourself behind the black ball. Now get him on round to the back and then come up here and clean up this mess he’s made.”
Related Characters:
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“Will I play with the black ball, Daddy?”
“In time son,” I said. “In time.”
He had already played with the ball; that he would discover later. He was learning the rules of the game already, but he didn’t know it. Yes, he would play with the ball. Indeed, poor little rascal, he would play until he grew sick of playing. My, yes, the old ball game. But I’d begin telling him the rules later.
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My hand was still burning from the scratch as I dragged the hose out to water the lawn, and looking down at the iodine stain, I thought of the fellow’s fried hands, and felt in my pocket to make sure I still had the card he had given me. Maybe there was a color other than white on the old ball.
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