There Was Nothing Sweet About Her

If you asked me how I felt after reading Toni Morrison’s short story Sweetness, I would tell you that it made me angry, it also made sense, but it wasn’t right. Sweetness tells the sad story of raising a child that stands out in America. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Lula Ann, I do not believe she stands out, she is just another Black woman, but during the time of her childhood, many did not accept people of color. It was unfortunate that even her mother and father treated her differently because of her skin color. It might have been expected from society, but not her own parents, the people that gave her life. The narrator shares graphic detail of her pure distaste for her daughter from the minute she was born. Though I now understand her reason for raising Lula Ann the way she did, she could have handled things much differently. The narrator claims that she was protecting Lula Ann, but really she was being selfish, worried about how people would look at her. No loving mother calls their child a burden, nor would they think about killing their baby to somehow save them. 

The narrator did not deserve to be called mother, mom, mama, or SWEETNESS. There was nothing sweet about her. Maybe I am making unfair judgements about the narrator, but it is clear that she is responsible for suppressing her own daughter, when she should have been empowering her, and showing her the beauty of being colored. Then again she was raised with the “privilege” of being light skinned, and never had to feel the effects of being Black. So, I will give her the benefit of the doubt and say that she just did not know how to raise a colored child. Her parents sent mixed messages about being a colored person. One minute her mother would assume the role of a servant but then she would refuse to drink from a “coloreds only” fountain, even if she was parched. I understand the narrator’s upbringing and how it must have been very confusing for her, but when it came to her own child she should not have seen color, instead she should see a child that she would raise to be a good person. As a person of color I have asked my parents why they never raised me to be aware of my color, and their response is always that my color should not matter, and they raised me to be a good person who respects others. The narrator should not have let fear take over the way in which she raised Lula Ann. Had she ignored color and loved and accepted her daughter for who she was, maybe she wouldn’t be in a nursing home, maybe her daughter would want to take care of her and be present in her life.