--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Sugar crystallizes something in our…" description: "\"Sugar crystallizes something in our American Soul. It is emblematic of all Industrial Processes. And of the idea of becoming white. White Being equated..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56a/kara-walker-36891_becoming_sugar-crystallizes-something-in-our-amer_2834733.jpg" --- # Sugar crystallizes something in our American Soul. It is… ![“Sugar crystallizes something in our American Soul. It is emblematic of all Industrial Processes. And of the idea of becoming white. White Being equated with pure and ‘true’ it takes a lot of energy to turn brown things into white things. A lot of pressure.” quote by Kara Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56a/kara-walker-36891_becoming_sugar-crystallizes-something-in-our-amer_2834733.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56a/kara-walker-36891_becoming_sugar-crystallizes-something-in-our-amer_2834733.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56a/kara-walker-36891_becoming_sugar-crystallizes-something-in-our-amer_2834733.jpg) > “Sugar crystallizes something in our American Soul. It is emblematic of all Industrial Processes. And of the idea of becoming white. White Being equated with pure and ‘true’ it takes a lot of energy to turn brown things into white things. A lot of pressure.” [Kara Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kara-walker/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Sugar symbolizes industrial processes and the pursuit of whiteness, reflecting societal pressures to conform to purity ideals. **In simple terms:** Sugar shows how society pressures whiteness. Key Takeaway Question standards of purity. Themes race industry beauty Mood critical provocative Type cultural political When to use this quote - fashion industry - food production - media representation Key Concepts colonialism colorism Questions to Reflect On - Why is whiteness equated with purity? - How does industry shape identity? A Different Perspective May oversimplify history. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Becoming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/becoming/) [Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brown/) [Crystallizes American](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crystallizes-american-3682546/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) [Food](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/food/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Pressure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pressure/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Pure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pure/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) [Sugar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sugar/) [Sugar Crystallizes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sugar-crystallizes-3682545/) [Things White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-white-2816401/) [Turn Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turn-brown-2599543/) [Turns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turns/) [White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white/) ## Related quotes > [Here's a helpful life tip. Stand by things that are white cuz it makes you look less white.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenna-marbles/here-s-a-helpful-life-tip-stand-by-things-that-are-white-cuz-it-makes/) [Jenna Marbles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenna-marbles/) > [I think there is a period of esthetic discovery that happens to a man and he can do all sorts of things at white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-evans/i-think-there-is-a-period-of-esthetic-discovery-that-happens-to-a-man/) [Walker Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-evans/) > [“The things white men failed to notice would fill the world they had ruined ten thousand times over.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-burr-gerrard/the-things-white-men-failed-to-notice-would-fill-the-world-they-had/) [David Burr Gerrard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-burr-gerrard/) > [I have olive skin, so if I'm in the sun for even 15 minutes, I turn brown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrina-patridge/i-have-olive-skin-so-if-i-m-in-the-sun-for-even-15-minutes-i-turn/) [Audrina Patridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrina-patridge/) > [“When bananas blush, they turn brown, not red. And when tomatoes blush, you’ve probably said something really naughty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/when-bananas-blush-they-turn-brown-not-red-and-when-tomatoes-blush/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [When the leaves turn brown, I'll be wearing the batting crown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-parker/when-the-leaves-turn-brown-i-ll-be-wearing-the-batting-crown/) [Dave Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-parker/) > [You don't want your credibility banana to turn brown, but you do want to speak out about what you believe in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bradley-whitford/you-don-t-want-your-credibility-banana-to-turn-brown-but-you-do-want/) [Bradley Whitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bradley-whitford/) > [“You," she told him, "are so full of shit, it's a wonder your eyes don't turn brown.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-she-told-him-are-so-full-of-shit-it-s-a-wonder-your-eyes-don-t/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/smedley-butler/i-helped-make-mexico-especially-tampico-safe-for-american-oil/) [Smedley Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/smedley-butler/) > [Carob is a brown powder made from the pulverized fruit of a Mediterranean evergreen. Some consider carob an adequate substitute for chocolate because it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-boynton/carob-is-a-brown-powder-made-from-the-pulverized-fruit-of-a/) [Sandra Boynton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-boynton/) > [I was looking to show people I could act. I was looking for something that would take me away from the whole hunk riding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-kodjoe/i-was-looking-to-show-people-i-could-act-i-was-looking-for-something/) [Boris Kodjoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-kodjoe/) > [I don't know what happened. One minute, I was dreamin' about a fat piece of George Clooney and a hot date with some brown…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-don-t-know-what-happened-one-minute-i-was-dreamin-about-a-fat-piece/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I worked in a barbershop. I used to make the waves in the brother's hair, you know? Like, Nat King Cole, Sugar Ray Robinson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-clinton/i-worked-in-a-barbershop-i-used-to-make-the-waves-in-the-brother-s/) [George Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-clinton/) > [KEEP CALM and HAVE A SUGAR CUBE](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/keep-calm-and-have-a-sugar-cube/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [I have no intention of retiring. Even my blood sugar is better when I'm working.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-stritch/i-have-no-intention-of-retiring-even-my-blood-sugar-is-better-when-i/) [Elaine Stritch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-stritch/) ## More by Kara Walker > [I think really the whole problem with racism and its continuing legacy in this country is that we simply love it. Who would we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kara-walker/i-think-really-the-whole-problem-with-racism-and-its-continuing/) [Kara Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kara-walker/) > [A lot of my work has been about the unexpected—that kind of wanting to be the heroine and yet wanting to kill the heroine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kara-walker/a-lot-of-my-work-has-been-about-the-unexpected-that-kind-of-wanting/) [Kara Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kara-walker/) > [One of my earliest memories involves sitting on my dad’s lap in his studio in the garage of our house and watching him draw.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kara-walker/one-of-my-earliest-memories-involves-sitting-on-my-dad-s-lap-in-his/) [Kara Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kara-walker/) > [If you're a Black artist, you could paint a wall of smiley faces, and someone will still ask you, 'Why are you so angry?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kara-walker/if-you-re-a-black-artist-you-could-paint-a-wall-of-smiley-faces-and/) [Kara Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kara-walker/) > [Silhouettes are reductions, and racial stereotypes are also reductions of actual human beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kara-walker/silhouettes-are-reductions-and-racial-stereotypes-are-also-reductions/) [Kara Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kara-walker/) > [There's no diploma in the world that declares you as an artist—it's not like becoming a doctor. 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I think of my work as subsumed by history or consumed by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kara-walker/i-don-t-think-that-my-work-is-actually-effectively-dealing-with/) [Kara Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kara-walker/) > [I didn’t want a completely passive viewer. Art means too much to me. To be able to articulate something visually is really an important…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kara-walker/i-didn-t-want-a-completely-passive-viewer-art-means-too-much-to-me-to/) [Kara Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kara-walker/) [Explore all 12 Kara Walker quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kara-walker/) ## More Becoming quotes > [Focus on becoming more to achieve more while doing less](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-elrod/focus-on-becoming-more-to-achieve-more-while-doing-less/) [Hal Elrod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-elrod/) > [If the media is sending girls the message that their value lies in their bodies, this can only leave them feeling disempowered and distract…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-siebel-newsom/if-the-media-is-sending-girls-the-message-that-their-value-lies-in/) [Jennifer Siebel Newsom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-siebel-newsom/) > [But I already saw no great difference between the psyche and spirituality. To amass knowledge without becoming wise is not my idea of progress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/but-i-already-saw-no-great-difference-between-the-psyche-and/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [It's easy to say, let's go in and get the bad guys. But you have a divided country of Sunnis and Shias. The United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tulsi-gabbard/it-s-easy-to-say-let-s-go-in-and-get-the-bad-guys-but-you-have-a/) [Tulsi Gabbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tulsi-gabbard/) > [The path I choose through the maze makes me what I am. I am not only a thing, but also a way of being--one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-keyes/the-path-i-choose-through-the-maze-makes-me-what-i-am-i-am-not-only-a/) [Daniel Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-keyes/) > [Becoming famous is a really shocking thing, especially when you don't have aspirations to it. It got to the point where I would try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-moyet/becoming-famous-is-a-really-shocking-thing-especially-when-you-don-t/) [Alison Moyet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-moyet/) > [When other boys dreamt of going to the moon or becoming doctors, I wanted to be a designer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivier-theyskens/when-other-boys-dreamt-of-going-to-the-moon-or-becoming-doctors-i/) [Olivier Theyskens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivier-theyskens/) > [One is not born a genius, one becomes a genius; and the feminine situation has up to the present rendered this becoming practically impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/one-is-not-born-a-genius-one-becomes-a-genius-and-the-feminine/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [The dream of coming back is becoming a reality. A lot of the uncertainty about the future has been cleared up. A lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tagliabue/the-dream-of-coming-back-is-becoming-a-reality-a-lot-of-the/) [Paul Tagliabue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tagliabue/) > [I'm getting to a point where everything is becoming streamlined in my life. I'm learning how to stand onstage for two hours and play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mayer/i-m-getting-to-a-point-where-everything-is-becoming-streamlined-in-my/) [John Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mayer/) > [The term 'Pre-Raphaelite' is in danger of becoming one of the most misused tags in art history](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-wood/the-term-pre-raphaelite-is-in-danger-of-becoming-one-of-the-most/) [Christopher Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-wood/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [The reason so many of us are obsessed with becoming stars is because we are not yet starring in our own lives. 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