On Race and Money

Abstract

In a 2003 interview, Toni Morrison remarked about finally having financial security, “It’s nice. Don’t let anybody tell you it’s not. Particularly for somebody who’s been really poor, it’s great. Nouveau riche is the best riche there is” (Weaver, 2019). A year later, in another interview, the Nobel Prize-winning author whose humble beginnings in Lorain, Ohio, are frequently part of the story told about her, repeated her point about being nouveau riche.