Sugar

The primary theme of Jewell Parker Rhodes’s Sugar is cultural empathy. River Road plantation in Louisiana brings together three distinct cultures: the Black workers who were recently freed from slavery, the white plantation owners who are still in charge but no longer own anyone, and the Chinese immigrants who come to fill the jobs the younger Black workers left behind. Each of these groups is represented by a child or young adult in the novel. In her author’s note, Rhodes writes that “Billy, Beau, and Sugar represent the best of America” (278) because of their willingness to listen to each other, despite their differences. It is the trio’s friendship that best embodies the theme of cultural empathy.

At the beginning of the novel, there are clear boundaries in place to keep each of the three groups separated: “‘Each to their own place’ Mister Wills says. ‘God didn’t intend for the races to mix’” (25). Sugar remembers the warnings of her Ma before she died, who told her not to play with Billy. The Beales try to keep Sugar away from the Chinese workers, and Billy is likewise banned from interacting with them. All three groups are intentionally kept separate.

The Black workers’ initial uncertainty about the Chinese workers stems from rumors that they will be replaced by these younger, stronger men from China. Sugar overhears the adults voicing these concerns: Their worry “sounds like a storm rolling in from the horizon. Mumble-whisper-rumble. ‘Chinamen’. Like gray, black clouds are sweeping in, making River Road uneasy” (69). Though Sugar’s song signals the Chinese men to slow down, the Black workers are still wary of them and keep their distance.

The Black workers to try to keep up, but physically, the older workers are too exhausted to maintain the younger workers’ pace. Eventually, Mister Beale approaches Master Liu with an honest plea: “We all have to make a living. All God’s children have to live” (131). Master Liu understands, and the two groups blend in the field, working as one to chop down the cane. Though it takes time, the two groups begin to spend more time together and share their lives with each other, with all their joys and sorrows.

Sugar and Billy’s friendship puts racial boundaries further to the test. The former is often in trouble due to her playing with Billy. She sulks at this, thinking “If Ma were alive, I think she’d like Billy. She wouldn’t mind me breaking the rules. She’d understand me and Billy mix just fine” (72). When Sugar and Billy are on their raft together, it’s difficult to understand why the adults can’t see they’re both children who just want to play. It takes Billy’s near-death experience for Sugar to be permitted to spend time with him. Eventually, Sugar, Billy, and Beau are allowed to play together, and they set a new standard for what friendships can look like at River Road.