The Blacker the Berry: A Novel of Negro Life

Like Part 1, Part 2 begins with a reflection on race, class, and colorism. Emma Lou has left USC without completing her degree after three years. She is now in Harlem, the epicenter of Black culture in America during the 1920s and 1930s. Emma Lou is in a newly rented apartment, feigning sleep so that John, the man with whom she spent the last two nights, can leave without saying goodbye. After a brief liaison, Emma decides that John is not the right sort of boyfriend, and although he is dismayed at her rejection, Emma Lou shows very little empathy for him. Since arriving in Harlem, she has been the subject of much gossip, both at home and among her former USC classmates. Friends and family are scandalized by her decision to leave college, her move to Harlem, and her sexual activity. Emma Lou, however, is not ashamed of her short-lived tryst with John.

As Emma Lou quietly waits for John to leave, she contemplates her new haircut, hoping that it flatters her face enough to distract from her dark skin. Thurman notes Emma Lou is “always speculating on how good looking she might have been if she had not been so black” (32).