The story explores how the relationship between the two main characters is shaped by their racial difference. Morrison does not, however, disclose which character is white and which is black. Rather than delving into the distinctive culture of African Americans, she illustrates how the divide between the races in American culture at large is dependent on blacks and whites defining themselves in opposition to one another. On the other hand, Morrison employs Maggie to explicate ideological construction of otherness via using her disability and she also gives “prosthetic meanings” to her (Sklar 147). It is true to say that this makes us not sure to know which character is black or white explicitly.
References:
Andore, Helane Adams. "Revised Memories and Colliding Identities: Absence and Presence in Morrison's "Recitatif" and Viramontes's "Tears on My Pillow"." 32.2 (2007): 133-50.
Du Bois, W. E. B. "Of Our Spiritual Strivings." Hayes, Floyd W. A Turbulent Voyage. San Diego: Collegiate Press, 2000.
Morrison, Toni, ed. Birth of a nation'hood : gaze, script, and spectacle in the O.J. Simpson case. New York: Pantheon Books, 1997
Sklar, Howard. "Stereotype, Sympathy, and Disability in Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif”." What the Hell Happened to Maggie? Helsinki:
Stanley, Sandra Kumamoto. Maggie in Toni Morrison's "Récitatif: The Africanist Presence and Disability Studies. 36 vols.