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Maxine Beneba Clarke
Cleopatra “Cleo” Clarke is Maxine’s mother. Born to Guyanese parents and raised in London, Cleopatra was an accomplished actor in her youth. After Cleopatra married Maxine’s father, Bordeaux, the young couple decided to emigrate to Sydney, Australia after Bordeaux obtained a professor position there. The way Maxine tells it, Cleopatra was reluctant to move to Australia and had deep regrets after arriving due to the signs of ingrained racism she saw, but eventually established herself in the community of Kellyville, the suburb where the Clarke children grow up. Cleopatra is shown to be upset at the racism she and her family experience in Australia, but she tries to hide it around her children. She is levelheaded and attentive to her children, although she sometimes struggles to discuss topics of racism with them. When Bordeaux leaves her at the end of the memoir, she retains custody of the Clarke children.
Cleopatra Clarke Quotes in The Hate Race
The The Hate Race quotes below are all either spoken by Cleopatra Clarke or refer to Cleopatra Clarke. 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 1
Quotes
Despite these racial tensions, migrants of colour and their British-born children had truly made London their home. In Tottenham, a few island grocery shops had sprung up: aisles stacked with jerk seasoning, tinned ackee, smoked salt fish and bruised plantains. The occasional black hair salon could be seen, with racks of multi-coloured hair-weave pieces, giant tubs of sticky dreadlock wax and netted sleeping caps spilling onto the footpaths. After twenty or so years, a strong black community was being forged.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2
Quotes
Cleopatra reached instinctively for one of the few coloured packets in the cheese section of the refrigerator. Bordeaux caught his young wife’s hand mid-air, recoiling in shock. In giant blue lettering, the word coon leered at them.
Again, those beasts of doubt, waking and turning, deep in my mother’s gut. What have we done? What have we done?!
Get the entire The Hate Race LitChart as a printable PDF.
Cleopatra Clarke Quotes in The Hate Race
The The Hate Race quotes below are all either spoken by Cleopatra Clarke or refer to Cleopatra Clarke. 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 1
Quotes
Despite these racial tensions, migrants of colour and their British-born children had truly made London their home. In Tottenham, a few island grocery shops had sprung up: aisles stacked with jerk seasoning, tinned ackee, smoked salt fish and bruised plantains. The occasional black hair salon could be seen, with racks of multi-coloured hair-weave pieces, giant tubs of sticky dreadlock wax and netted sleeping caps spilling onto the footpaths. After twenty or so years, a strong black community was being forged.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2
Quotes
Cleopatra reached instinctively for one of the few coloured packets in the cheese section of the refrigerator. Bordeaux caught his young wife’s hand mid-air, recoiling in shock. In giant blue lettering, the word coon leered at them.
Again, those beasts of doubt, waking and turning, deep in my mother’s gut. What have we done? What have we done?!
