All over this country people talk about a silver spoon, but truth be told, the spoon is gold. And solid. And stacked high and across. That’s how you have to do if you’re colored, black, Negro, brown…
-- Sabe (chapter 7)

Importance: One theme in the novel is racial prejudice, especially through the perspective of Melody’s grandmother Sabe. She has been strongly impacted by the race riots of Tulsa in 1921, and this has shaped much of her understanding of the world. She believes that in order to succeed in life as a person of color, one must overcome many challenges. As a result, she pushes her children to hold "on to what's yours" in life (82).

Guess that's where the tears came from, knowing that there's so much in this great big world that you don't have a single ounce of control over. Guess the sooner you learn that, the sooner you'll have...
-- Po'Boy (chapter 4)