Now I've seen everything!

“What can I tell you about New York-or even about the train that took us there! We had to ride in the sit-down section of the train, but Celie, there are beds on trains! And a restaurant! And toilets! The beds come down out of the walls, over the tops of the seats, and are called berths. Only white people can ride in the beds and use the restaurant. And they have different toilets from colored.One white man on the platform in South Carolina asked us where we were going-we had got off the train to get some fresh air and to dust out of our clothes. When we said Africa he looked offended and tickled too. Niggers going to Africa, he said to his wife. Now I have seen everything.” (The Color Purple, Page 126)
In this chapter Nettie is writing a letter to Celie saying that she is going to Africa with her missionary friends. In this quote she tells her about New York and we see a perfect example of racism and segregation in this quote. Nettie is saying how the trains in Africa have all these features such as toilets, beds, restaurants, and berths (seats that turn into beds). However these luxuries are only for the white people. The black people had their own train carts. This is a perfect example of the Jim Crow Laws. Separate but equal. These features are separate but are they really equal. The white passengers had berths and clean toilets and were able to use the restaurants in the train while the black people had their own dirty bathrooms and could not use the restaurants. This quote shows that black people did not have the luxuries that white people. Another example of racism in this quote is when Nettie and her missionary friends meet a white man. The white man asks where they are going and they tell him that they are going to Africa. When they tell him this he says “Niggers going to Africa now I have seen everything”. He is disgusted and tickled. Why would he be disgusted by black people going to Africa?