6 Quotes About Discrimination in Second Class Citizen

Are you looking for quotes about discrimination in Second Class Citizen by Buchi Emecheta? Then this post is for you. These quotes from the novel, Second Class Citizen relate to the theme of discrimination in general and racial discrimination or racism in particular.

As you will soon discover, besides the theme of racism, there is another form of discrimination in the novel. This has to do with tribal prejudice within the black immigrant population in England. Buchi Emecheta portrays this theme of tribal discrimination as she writes about the way Nigerian Igbos and Yorubas see each other.

It is also about the way people of African descent from the West Indies, see their counterparts from the mother continent.

Therefore, I would like you to pay close attention to the various forms of discrimination that show up in the extracts from Second Class Citizen below.

Points of Analysis

One more thing. These quotes about discrimination in Second Class Citizen relate to important incidents in the novel. For that matter, they are relevant in other ways too.

Here is a quick look at the major issues that come to the fore as you read these racial discrimination quotes from Second Class Citizen.

• Adah’s character

• Character of Francis

• The themes of racial and tribal discrimination

• Theme of social status

• The theme of dreams

• Theme of disappointment

Note that the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) examiners will not hesitate to use them for your WASSCE Literature-in-English questions.

Now if you’re preparing for the NECO/SSCE or JAMB, please the same point above applies to you; be you a Literature teacher or a student.

It’s now time for us to have our quotes about discrimination in Second Class Citizen by the Nigerian novelist, Buchi Emecheta.

1. Francis reminds Adah of their second-class citizen status in England

Then he spat out in anger: ‘You must know, my dear young lady, that in Lagos you may be a million publicity officers for the Americans; you may be earning a million pounds a day; you may have hundreds of servants; you may be living like an elite; but the day you land in England, you are a second class citizen. So you can’t discriminate against your own people because we are all second-class.’

Buchi Emecheta

Key points to note

• Reference: Chapter 3, Second Class Citizen

Theme of dreams: At long last, Adah has achieved her childhood dream. She has just arrived in the United Kingdom. This extract relates to how Francis Obi, Adah’s husband, welcomes her to England.

Theme of racial discrimination: By this warning, Francis has pointedly told Adah to prepare for the unequal treatment she will experience in England due to the colour of her skin. And, as time goes on, Adah, probably sceptical at the beginning, will come to realize how true Francis’s assessment of race relations in the UK has been.

Character of Francis: We can observe from this extract that Francis is not going to treat Adah kindly in England. The angry manner he speaks to his wife, Adah, on the first day she sets foot in England is a clear warning that all will not be well with this marriage. In fact, it foreshadows the countless quarrels the couple is in for.

On another level, Francis seems to have resigned himself to the racism situation. Unlike Adah, therefore, he will simply allow himself to fall into this second-rate citizen status. This is one of the many areas of difference between the two characters. So note this and remember it if ever you need to answer a question like this:

Compare and contrast the characters of Adah and Francis in Second Class Citizen.

2. Adah refuses to allow her children to be fostered.

In fact, to most of her Nigerian neighbours, she was having her cake and eating it. She was in a white man’s job despite the fact that everybody had warned her against it, and it looked as if she meant to keep it. She would not send her children away to be fostered like everybody; instead, they were living with them, just as if she and Francis were first class citizens in their own country. To cap it all, they were Igbos, the hated people who always believe blindly in their ideologies. Well, if they were going to be different from everybody else, they would have to go away from them.

Buchi Emecheta

Key points to note

• Reference: Chapter 6 of Second Class Citizen

The following are some major points in the above extract that should not escape your attention.

• Adah’s stubborn determination as a character shows up here. She will always do what she considers to be good for her. No external pressure has ever made her do otherwise. Not in Nigeria, and, indeed, not in England either.

• Racism: As a black immigrant in the UK, you are not expected to take a “white man’s job”. This is a clear reference to the theme of racial discrimination.

• Adah’s Yoruba neighbours at Ashdown Street envy her and do not appear to wish her well. They are happy that their landlord has served Adah and her family with an eviction notice. The theme of tribal antagonism is obvious here.

The above point about discrimination among blacks is supported by our next quote from the novel. You will find this one too in Chapter Six.

3. Adah comes to terms with discrimination among Nigerians

Thinking about her first year in Britain, Adah could not help wondering whether the real discrimination, if one could call it that, that she experienced was not more the work of her fellow-countryment, than of the whites. Maybe if blacks could learn to live harmoniously with one another, maybe if a West Indian landlord could learn not to look down on the African and the African learn to boast less of his country’s natural wealth, there would be fewer inferiority feelings among the blacks.?

Buchi Emecheta

4. The Obis find it difficult to find a new place

“Her house-hunting was made more difficult because she was black, black with two very young children and pregnant with another one. She was beginning to learn that her colour was something she was supposed to be ashamed of.”

Key points to note

• Reference: Chapter 6 of Second Class Citizen

• Adah’s character: she appears to be the leader of the family. Yes, we are told that Francis has also been doing some house-hunting. But his efforts are, apparently, very insignificant as compared to Adah’s.

• Character of Francis: Francis has literally handed over his responsibility as a husband to Adah.

• Racial Discrimination: It is not easy finding accommodation in England when you’re black. Your situation gets more problematic if you have many children.

5. The Obis’ Encounter with a Racist White Landlady in Hawley Street

At first, Adah thought the woman was about to have an epileptic seizure. As she opened the door, the woman clutched at her throat with one hand, her little mouth opening and closing as if gasping for air, and her bright kitten-like eyes dilated to their fullest extent. She made several attempts to talk, but no sound came. Her mouth had obviously gone dry. But she succeeded eventually. Oh yes, she found her voice, from wherever it had gone previously. That voice was telling them now that the rooms had just gone.

Buchi Emecheta

Key points to note

• Reference: Chapter 6 of Second Class Citizen

You can learn more about the circumstances surrounding this incident in my summary of Chapter Six of Second Class Citizen.

In case you’re not aware, the title of Chapter 6 is “Sorry, No Coloureds”. It aptly gives us the gist of this chapter as one place where we witness the naked display of racial discrimination against blacks in the UK.

So here are your key points

• Theme of racial prejudice or discrimination: The racist impulses of this white landlady are so powerful that she cannot even control them.

• Theme of dreams and disappointment: Surely, this is not the sort of society that Adah once dreamt of when she heard Pa speak with a deep reverence of the place called “United Kingdom”. If Adah has been doubtful about what Francis keeps telling her that blacks have a very low status in this society, now she will need no more convincing. She has seen full-blown racism on display. This experience adds to the mounting sense of disappointment she has had to deal with since the day she arrived in the United Kingdom.

6. Francis pours scorn on Adah’s efforts to become a published writer.

You keep forgetting that you are a woman and that you are black. The white man can barely tolerate us men, to say nothing of brainless women like you who could think of nothing except how to breasfeed her baby.

Buchi Emecheta – Second Class Citizen

Key points to note

• Reference: Chapter 13 of Second Class Citizen. Note that the title of Chapter 13 of Second Class Citizen is ‘The Ditch Pull’. It is the final chapter of the novel.

• The theme of gender discrimination: Francis has shown, with the above utterance, that he and other African men like him have no respect for the female gender.

• The theme of racial discrimination: The extract also demonstrates how blacks who are discriminated against have come to accept their situation with utter helplessness.

• The extract also portrays Francis as a weak, jealous and failed husband who cannot stand his own wife’s achievements.

Final thoughts

You will also find other theme-related quotes from Second Class Citizen on this site. And if you want a concise summary and analysis of the whole novel, you can find it here. Thank you!

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