Essay Questions

How does Zakiya Dalila Harris build the theme of bigotry in the novel The Other Black Girl?

The central theme in the novel by Zakiya Dalila Harris is bigotry. Nella is a Black woman working in a publishing industry dominated by whites. Nella is hardworking and intelligent compared to most of her white counterparts. However, Nella has never received a promotion or recognition for her excellent work. On the contrary, the white workmates are promoted regularly and awarded. Whenever Nella complains, she receives threatening emails from unknown people asking her to leave the company.

What is the survival mechanism of Hazel in the publishing industry?

Hazel is Nella's working mate, and they are among the few Black women working in the publishing industry. Unlike Nella, who is against discrimination against Black employees, Hazel supports what the white employees do to Africans. For instance, Hezel supports Collin's book, which has racist characters. Nella argues that Collin needs to remove racist characters to ensure neutrality. Hezel supports racism as a survival tactic to win the white people's support in her non-profit work. Richard, a white boss, gives a lot of money towards Hezel's projects because she supports everything the publishing company does, including discriminating against Black employees.

Why is Shani supporting the organization called Resistance?

Shani is a young activist dedicated to supporting Black women in the publishing industry to flourish. The Resistance organization works tirelessly to identify a group of women undermining Black women in the Publishing sector. Consequently, Shani wants to protect the reputation of Black women in working places to ensure they are treated with dignity and fairly.