Blacks should be used to play whites. For centuries we had probed their faces, the angles of their bodies, the sounds of their voices, and even their odors. Often our survival had depended on the accurate reading of a white man's chuckle or the disdainful wave of a white woman's hand.

The passage argues that, under white supremacy, Black people were compelled to become expert interpreters of white behavior—reading facial expressions, gestures, tone, and other cues with high stakes attached. What might look like “acting” or “playing” whites is framed as a survival skill developed over centuries of coercion, violence, and social dependency. The quote highlights the asymmetry of power: the dominant group can afford ignorance, while the oppressed must cultivate acute social perception to anticipate danger, secure work, or avoid humiliation. It also suggests a painful intimacy with the oppressor’s habits—knowledge gained not by choice but by necessity—underscoring the psychological toll of living under constant scrutiny and threat.