"I always looked upon the acts of racist exclusion, or insult, as pitiable, from the other person. I never absorbed that. I always thought that there was something deficient about such people"

Toni Morrison’s words offer a profound lens through which to view acts of racism and exclusion. Rather than internalizing the negativity of others, she chooses to regard these acts as a reflection of the perpetrator, not the recipient. Racist behavior, rooted in an attempt to belittle, degrade, or alienate, does not successfully diminish the target’s value, it primarily reveals a lack or flaw within those engaging in it. Morrison’s response is not one of woundedness but of reflection and even pity. She sees the bigotry and exclusion as signs of deficiency in the perpetrator’s character, empathy, or understanding.

This approach is both an act of defiance and of compassion. The refusal to absorb the intended harm is an act of self-preservation, a conscious decision to remain internally unaffected by others' ignorance or hatred. Morrison thus models resilience: she does not grant racist acts the power to shape her sense of self-worth. Instead, she offers a perspective that rescues dignity from the hands of oppression, focusing attention back on the true source of the wrongdoing, the moral or emotional limitations of the racist individual.

Furthermore, Morrison’s stance invites a reconsideration of power dynamics. Where racism often aims to enforce a hierarchy, her perspective reverses this direction: the ‘deficiency’ lies not with those excluded, but with the excluders. The object of pity becomes not the victim, but the one who cannot extend basic respect or humanity. Morrison disrupts the narrative of victimhood by refusing to allow such acts to determine her self-perception, emphasizing the agency and dignity of those who experience exclusion. Her words encourage others to adopt a perspective that protects their self-worth, recognizing that acts of hate and exclusion stem from a lack in others, never from a defect in themselves.