White Lilacs

Content Warning: The novel contains racist language, including racial expletives, and depicts racial violence. Some of that language is replicated in this guide when directly quoting the source text, but the author’s use of racial expletives is obscured.

Even though slavery was illegal in the 1920s, Black people had been given the right to vote, and there were laws in place to ensure equality, the events of the novel explore the ways in which the white society in Dillon—and throughout much of the South—oppressed Black people. Rose Lee is initially shocked when she overhears the news that the white community wants to raze Freedom, questioning her grandfather on whether they can do something like that. However, after listening the men in her father’s barbershop, who claim that the white society can “do whatever they’ve a mind to” (26), and there is little the Black community can do to stop them, Rose Lee realizes the futility of their situation. Throughout the novel, Meyer explores this central conflict between the two communities and the ways by which the white community keeps power and maintains control.

At the meetings that Rose Lee serves, it is clear the white community has control over the most powerful people in Dillon. In addition to the Bells—one of the wealthiest families in Dillon—she also sees “big important people” including Dr. Thompson, who runs the school, and Mayor Dixon. These men openly discuss their plan to raze Freedom and are confident that the influence they have will sway the city to vote and approve their plan. These meetings show the avenues of control that this group of people have, including the school system, City Council, and the mayor himself. The group creates a plan which will be difficult for the Freedom citizens to fight against. After creating a petition, they set a vote to allocate funds for buying the land the Black community lives on. Additionally, only landowners will be able to vote, sincerely limiting the number of Black voters who will be eligible. The white community takes advantage of the legal voting system in Dillon as a form of power over Freedom, using their substantial voting power to create a legal way to enact their plan.

Additionally, to ensure that the Black community does not openly resist their plan, white society utilizes fear as a form of control. After the Juneteenth celebration, the KKK silently marches through Freedom and burns across in front of the church. Then, after more prominent Black members buy land in Buttermilk Hill, they burn down the school. While the Black community is left with little power due to the dynamics of the voting system and the City Council, the white community then further ensures their obedience by reminding them that they have unchecked strength as well; they have openly terrorized the Black community in the past with the KKK and deliver a silent threat that they will do so again if necessary.

The impunity with which the white community makes resistance all but unthinkable in portions of the Black community. The conflict between Henry and the elder Black men shows the dynamics of their position in Dillon. Henry attempts to get the men to openly defy the white population’s attempt to move them, but his youth and immaturity show his lack of understanding of the situation in Dillon. When Henry is punished for his defiance and then forced to flee, it becomes clear that there is little the people of Freedom can do to resist the control that the white community has.

Despite the many ways that the white population controls the citizens of Freedom—through voting, money, influence, the City Council, and fear—there is hope at the conclusion of the novel that the dynamics will change. When Rose Lee and Catherine Jane work together and successfully help Henry escape, it shows that resistance is possible. While Catherine Jane is in the minority in her disagreement with the plan to raze Freedom, in the future, changing attitudes toward racial injustice may help shift the power dynamics in the South.