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Girl, school was in session when the brilliant author Toni Morrison stopped by The Colbert Report! Looking like the flyest doyenne of literature–shimmery, purple scarf on her head, nails colored a muted lilac, and raspberry lipstick–she was epitomizing sass and class. Her entire exchange with Stephen Colbert was nothing short of charming, yet the highlights were definitely when the two talked about how her books came to fruition, her awarded legacy, and even the topic of race. Yasss, Morrison, yasss!

Through her strong but affable manner, she exclaimed that for years she didn’t read her novels after completion, but felt her “books are worthy” of accolades like the Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize “because they are separate from me”. When she recently picked up a copy of Beloved however, she found it to be “really, really good!” We could’ve told her that!

Regarding what passage or novels she would like to do over, Morrison felt she made a “fairly substantial mistake” when scribing her heartbreaking debut The Bluest Eye. She would’ve liked to provide “justice for one of the characters. A character I didn’t like”. Hmmmm….The Bluest Eye definitely had its share of flawed folk. If you’ve read the book (and please get to it if you haven’t!) who do you think she was referring to?

On the subject of race, without mentioning Ferguson or any 2014 headlines, Colbert asked: “Can I as a White man, understand the African-American experience?” Cue the pen and pad for this one. Morrison stated: “There’s no such thing as race. None. It’s just the human race. Scientifically, anthropologically. Racism is a construct. A social construct. And it has benefits. Money can be made off of it. People who don’t like themselves can feel better because of it…It has a social function. Racism…”

It’s confirmed. Toni Morrison is a unicorn.

This was definitely one of Stephen Colbert’s best interviews yet. Wouldn’t they make a great duo if she was on the show regularly? #yesplease

For more great tidbits, do press play on the video and again be in awe of the great Toni Morrison.

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Toni Morrison Schools Stephen Colbert On Racism & The One “Fairly Substantial Mistake” She Made  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com