Slave on the Block

Anne is a privileged white woman who lives a bohemian lifestyle in Greenwich Village. Her name echoes “Miss Ann,” the 20th-century equivalent of “Karen” and a reference to her inability to recognize her own privilege. Anne is a relatively static character who sees herself as a painter and a benevolent patron to the Black servants who work in her home. Anne is fascinated with Black culture and with Luther particularly, so much so that she ignores how unsuited he is to work as a gardener.

Over the course of the story, Anne encroaches on Luther’s boundaries, which culminates in her decision to paint him in the nude for her The Boy on the Block, a painting of a naked slave on the auction block that she intends to fix the sorrow of Black people on canvas. Anne is not just fascinated with Black culture: The more she paints Luther, the more she objectifies his body.

By the end of the story, she’s so attracted to Luther as an object that she asks her husband to reconsider firing him after Luther violates two of the core tenets of white supremacy: that Black people must always be deferential to white people and that Black men must be particularly deferential to white women.