White Lilacs

Henry is Rose Lee’s 21-year-old brother. He returned to Freedom after fighting in France in World War I. Throughout the novel, he repeatedly tries to get the men of Freedom to listen to him when he insists that they stand up against their forced relocation. He is hotheaded, often refusing to listen to the men and openly speaking out against the white citizens’ plans. Despite being tarred and feathered and warned by several characters, he largely refuses to change, attempting to organize the Black community to either fight back against the white community or move to Africa. Still, Rose Lee suspects that the tarring event had a lasting effect on Henry, as he, for a while, stopped acting like himself and doing much to fight back. He rebels against Edward Bell near the end of the novel. Ultimately, he is punished for speaking out and then forced to leave Freedom to save his life.

As part of the younger generation, Henry is believed to lack an understanding of the true Dynamics of Power and Control—specifically, just how much control the white community has over the people in Freedom, having not lived through slavery and Reconstruction and basing his views on what he saw in Europe. He repeats the teachings of Marcus Garvey, a Black civil rights activist whose ideas were largely dismissed at the time because of the belief that they were too difficult to achieve. As such, Henry is a representation of the future of Black society; even if many believe he is too radical for the current situation in the 1920s American South, in the future, people will shift toward a more unified and direct resistance to racial injustice.

Susannah is Rose Lee’s aunt. She visits Freedom initially and then at the end of the novel decides to move there permanently. She is from St. Louis, Missouri, an area that is more progressive than Dillon. Because of this, she is college educated, works as a schoolteacher, and Rose Lee is surprised to learn that she was previously engaged to a white man. Although Susannah is a flat character, she is important to the novel as a representation of life outside of Dillon. Unlike Henry, who believes in radical, immediate change, Susannah understands the complexities of the situation throughout the South. Because of this, she does not directly intervene in what is happening in Dillon, but instead provides guidance by encouraging the community to stick together. She also provides insight to Rose Lee on what the situation is like in places outside of Dillon, thereby helping Rose Lee to learn about what the world could be like without The Impact of Racial Injustice.

Catherine Jane is the 14-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bell. When she and Rose Lee were younger, they were friends that would play together while Rose Lee’s grandfather worked in the garden, often sneaking into the house without Mrs. Bell knowing. As they grew older, Rose Lee and Catherine Jane drifted apart, and now they only see each other in passing when Rose Lee is working. However, Catherine Jane repeatedly defies her parents, talking with Rose Lee in secret about the situation in Freedom, as well as cutting her own hair despite her mother’s protests. She is sympathetic to Rose Lee, telling her that she realizes Miss Firth is right about a lot of things, especially regarding the unfair treatment of Freedom by her own family.

Catherine Jane serves as a representation of possible hope for the future in the novel. When Rose Lee comes to her for help getting Henry out of Freedom, she willingly agrees, realizing that it is her “chance to show [her parents she] can stand up for what [she] believe[s], just like Miss Firth did” (224). Her act of defiance shows that there is the possibility that future generations will not be as bigoted and will work with the Black community to help them achieve equality, thereby providing hope in an otherwise bleak novel.

Miss Firth is a schoolteacher at the white school in Dillon. She is an art teacher and encourages Rose Lee to continue with her own drawings. Like Catherine Jane, Miss Firth serves as a representation of the part of the white community that is willing to work with the Black community toward equality. Despite losing her job, she attempts to speak out against the vote to raze Freedom, while also teaching Catherine Jane about why racial injustice is wrong. As such, she represents the importance of education in the novel and the role that it could play in bringing equality. She helps Rose Lee to understand the importance of recording history, while giving her a sketchbook to help her record Freedom before it is destroyed.