In Toni Morrison's Sula, the theme of race appears in at least every paragraph of the book. This book covers the years 1919 to 1965, which include some very important racial protests in history. Morrison depicts race in three contrasting aspects, namely the division of the black community of Bottom and the white community of Medallion, the view of blacks on whites, and the view of whites on blacks. In the first pages of the book, the contrast between Bottom and the town of Medallion where the whites live is made very apparent. During this time period, white supremacy was widespread and slavery and inhumane treatment of black people by white people was very common. The land where the country's blacks live was given to a slave by a white man and is described as: "A joke." A nigger joke. This is how it all started. Not the town, of course, but the part of town where the blacks lived, the part they called the Lower, even though it was in the hills. Just a nigger joke” (4). This depiction of where black people lived was presented in contrast to how Medallion is depicted where white people lived. The medallion was described as suburban looking and wealthy looking. The very fact that these two communities live on the same piece of land, yet are divided, shows how significant segregation was at that time. Black people had a very bitter outlook towards the white people who lived in Medallion because of the way the white people treated them. From the beginning of the story where the slave got the land from his master, the master tricked the slave into choosing the top of the hill because the agricultural conditions were worse. Middle of paper... Argeman said he couldn't go all the way, it was all the fragments of three miles” (64). Chicken Little's body was not returned to Bottom until three days later, because the white people of Medallion believed that no black people lived in their community, so why should it be their responsibility and their problem. This lack of concern that a child died, regardless of the color of their skin, shows how people were stuck in their ways when it came to segregation and hierarchy. Considering these three aspects of racism, race was a predominant theme. in the book which could not escape the reader's consciousness. Whether by showing the division of communities or through the feelings each race had towards the other race, the book depicts the history of racism in America. Works Cited Morrison, Toni. Sula. New York: Knopf;, 1974. Print.