The Marrow of Tradition · Chapter
XIII: The Cakewalk explained
Northern visitors in Wellington are given a curated view of race relations by white elites, culminating in a cakewalk performance.
What happens
Northern visitors in Wellington are given a curated view of race relations by white elites, culminating in a cakewalk performance. Tom Delamere impersonates Sandy Campbell at the cakewalk, leading to Sandy being falsely accused and suspended from his church. Ellis observes the performance and senses something amiss.
Themes in this chapter
Racial Injustice
The chapter exposes how white Southerners manipulate Northern visitors' perceptions of race, and how a black man is unjustly punished for a crime he did not commit.
Identity and Passing
Tom Delamere impersonates Sandy Campbell, exploiting racial stereotypes and causing Sandy to suffer the consequences.
Class and Privilege
Tom Delamere's wealth and social position allow him to evade responsibility, while Sandy, lacking privilege, faces church discipline.
Characters to notice
- Sandy Campbell
Falsely accused of participating in the cakewalk; suspended from his church despite his protests of innocence.
- Tom Delamere
Impersonates Sandy at the cakewalk, finding it amusing; later encourages Sandy to drink to ease his distress.
- Mr. Ellis
Attends the cakewalk and recognizes the performer as Sandy, but senses something unreal about the performance.
- Old Mr. Delamere
Sandy's employer; not directly involved in the chapter but referenced as the master of the household.
Key passages
“The severe reprisals taken by white people for certain crimes committed by negroes were of course not the acts of the best people, who deplored them; but still a certain charity should be extended towards those who in the intense and righteous anger of the moment should take the law into their own hands and deal out rough but still substantial justice; for no negro was ever lynched without incontestable proof of his guilt.”
White Southerners excuse lynchings as rough justice carried out by otherwise good people, claiming that no black person is ever lynched without clear proof of guilt.
This passage reveals the hypocrisy and rationalization of racial violence by the white elite.
“The cakewalk had results which to Sandy were very serious. The following week he was summoned before the disciplinary committee of his church and charged with unchristian conduct, in the following particulars, to wit: dancing, and participating in a sinful diversion called a cakewalk, which was calculated to bring the church into disrepute and make it the mockery of sinners.”
Sandy is called before his church's disciplinary committee and accused of dancing and taking part in a cakewalk, which they consider sinful and damaging to the church's reputation.
Sandy is punished for an act he did not commit, highlighting the injustice of the situation.