"Will I play with the black ball, Daddy?”
“In time son,” I said. “In time.”
He had already played with the ball; that he would discover later.
This quote, which involves the main character (John) of the short story and his son, is the most important quote in the entire short story. The black ball that John's son mentions is a metaphor that black people must deal with in their lives. Black people are often physically struck, kicked around, and otherwise mistreated because of the color of their skin. Children, however, are often insulated from dealing with such bad behavior (just as John's son had not yet experienced such bad behavior). However, in an effort to appease his son and assuage any of his concerns, John tells him that he had not yet (but eventually will) played will the black ball. But John already knows that the boy had already played with the black ball because of their landlord's racism and general discontentment with John and his son.
"Daddy, am I black?"
That a child as young as John's son would ask if he is black is emblematic of both the struggles that black people (including John) deal with and the relative shelter John's son was raised in.
Some sociologists argue that humans are raised to see color and that humans are not born with the ability to see it. John's son's quote reflects this: he is not aware of his own color because his father and society never imbued him with the sense that color was important. However, after the boy is persistently and perniciously teased by a neighborhood boy, he becomes acutely aware of his skin color, which prompts the above question to his father. Still, despite the boy's question, John tells him to "forget this talk about you being black," reflecting his fervent desire to make his boy once again unaware of his race.
"Any other colored folks working here?"
An unnamed customer asks this question to John as he was working in the lobby. John perceives the man's question as nosy and impertinent and thus gives the man a false answer. However, as it turns out, the man is asking for a legitimate reason and wants to help John and any other people of color to form a union at their place of employment. After they form a union, the man explains, John and the other people of color that work there will hopefully get better benefits and have a better working environment.
