Sonny's Racist World

     Sonny can't seem to escape racism no matter where he goes. When he walks home with the twins, groups of older kids and adults shout racial slurs from their passing cars. The twins always voice their complaints about these people, whereas Sonny seems almost totally uninterested in the matter. In the Bowling Ally, it's usually occupied by Hispanic men drinking beer and eating, but the whole place becomes tense when two black men come in for a drink. Sonny is the only person who talks to them and even recommends some food. At home, Cloyd is suspicious over any black man or woman walking by the apartment complex. When Pink is thought to be sharing his apartment with a black man, Cloyd becomes furious and so does Bud. Silvia tells Sonny that Pink must be an albino black man and that's why he has so many black friends and customers. Sonny doesn't seem phased by any of this and continues to talk and joke with Pink. Sonny even mentions taking pleasure in the fact that Pink is deceiving Cloyd and Bud by not letting on that his skin color is a facade. Sonny obviously doesn't respond to racism, and perhaps this is the wisest way of dealing with it.