Both implicit and explicit racism occur throughout the novel, and though Brad displays the most severe racism, others in the community also hold racist views. Implicit racism refers to indirect or unintentional biases, and most everyone holds implicit bias, which is often imparted by larger cultural beliefs. Explicit racism is direct or intentional racism. While many believe implicit bias is not as bad as explicit bias, the novel demonstrates how such biases have damaging effects.

The narrators of the story draw attention to their implicit racism, such as when they admit that they commodified Valerie and Tom when they moved to the area by feeding off of their progressive image. Some members of the community are biased against Xavier before he is accused of rape, and the narrators state that they are “mostly older white folks—who scowl[] at him or avoid[] him, or watch[] him” (27). The collective narrators also demonstrate racism after Xavier is accused of rape and they gossip about whether Xavier is guilty. Kelli is convinced that Xavier is guilty, and she becomes defensive when Ellen asks, “Are you maybe saying that because you’re white and he’s not?” (264) Esther displays explicit racism, however, when she announces that she and her husband think that Xavier hates white people.