Racism

In a novel explicitly about race and America's race problem, racism is an important and central theme here. There are two key racist organizations in the book, the Knights of Nordica and the Anglo-Saxon Association of America, and both are white supremacist groups that believe that black people are not equal to white people and that black and white people should not marry because such marriages result in biracial children who make the white race less pure. It is the ultimate irony that Dr. Buggerie's genealogical data reveals that so many of the leaders and members of these organizations have nonwhite ancestries themselves. According to their own racist logic, they can no longer consider themselves superior to anyone.

Throughout the novel, racism is also a tool that is used to keep poor white Southerners distracted. Businesses actually pay Matthew to keep lower class laborers focused on the issue...