In the passage “Recitatif”, it gets very confusing given that one character is black and one is white. We are not told what Twyla’s and Roberta’s racial background is. But some clues such as the time period, class, and actions can hint you. I think that Roberta is white. Their first encounter was at St. Bonny’s. where Roberta was there because her mother was sick and Twyla was there because her mother danced all night, which I believe was stripping. I felt that Roberta’s family was a white family, upper class where when her mother wasn’t feeling well and wasn’t able to take care of her she was sent into a place where she would be taken care of. Whereas Twyla was taken away because her mother was busy doing something else rather then take care of her. Down the lane Roberta and Twyla met again. They meant when Twyla was working and Roberta was just hanging out with two men. Another class encounter during the passage was when they both met, they were married. Roberta was married to an IBM executive and Twyla to a firefighter. This shows how their class differ. Roberta even had a driver where Twyla had to drive herself. In 1970s only white people had that type of money. Blacks were working class. So this is why I believe that Roberta is white and Twyla is black.
