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Bordeaux Mathias Nathanial “Bordy” Clarke
Cecelia is Maxine’s older sister. Although the two are close in age, as children they are not especially close, and Cecelia often teases Maxine. However, the two participate in many extracurriculars together growing up. Maxine often envies Cecelia for her appearance and athletic ability, with Cecelia being much better at gymnastics and running than her younger sister. When Cecelia gets older, she begins to participate in modelling competitions (much to Bordeaux’s disapproval) and performs extremely well, inspiring Maxine and helping her internalize that Black women are beautiful in their own right.
Cecelia Clarke Quotes in The Hate Race
The The Hate Race quotes below are all either spoken by Cecelia Clarke or refer to Cecelia Clarke. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 13 Quotes
It was a don’t-say-a-word look. A turn-back-around-and-let’s-just-get-through-this look, at once empathetic and reprimanding. I understood. These are the cues we learn to read: the subtle gaps and shrugs and glances. The bullied know body language like bulls know red flags. To the bullied, reading body language is like having a compass: it keeps us from stumbling through dark forests, falling down cliff drops, slipping beneath fatal rapids.
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Chapter 14 Quotes
‘I’m not a runner, sir. I mean, I don’t like running that much.’
Spencer looked at me, perplexed.
‘Your sister,’ he said, ‘she’s going to be a champion, Clarkey. Runs like the wind. It’s in the blood. You folks are built for it!’
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Chapter 23 Quotes
Cecelia was a spunky black-magic pixie, sparkling and vibrant. Her hair was cornrow braided flat to her head with the long ends hanging down her back. She was beautiful, my sister. Breathtaking. Not despite her blackness, but inextricably entwined with it.
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Cecelia Clarke Character Timeline in The Hate Race
The timeline below shows where the character Cecelia Clarke appears in The Hate Race. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...original colonization. Despite their rather unwelcoming surroundings, Bordeaux and Cleopatra have three children in Kellyville: Cecilia, Maxine, and Bronson. Although the early 1980s see race riots in the United Kingdom, the...
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Chapter 4
...while Cleopatra occasionally drives her in, she usually walks to school with her older sister Cecelia, who is not especially talkative with Maxine despite their small age gap. Although Maxine is...
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Chapter 5
In primary school, Cecelia’s best friend is a girl named Leonie, who is the daughter of a funeral home...
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Chapter 6
...the term, but they have to commit to it for the entire term. One semester, Cecelia and Maxine choose gymnastics at the YMCA. Maxine struggles with the class due to the...
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Chapter 9
...since Aboriginal Australians were already there when the settlers arrived. One day, Cleopatra discovers that Cecelia has traced a picture of Captain Cook surrounded by racist caricatures of Aboriginal people from...
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Chapter 13
...Selina to school. They have separate homerooms, with Maxine being in the same one as Cecelia. When she enters, the students gossip about how much she looks like Cecelia, even though...
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Chapter 14
...calls her out, shocked that she ran so slowly despite being the much more athletic Cecelia’s sister. He insists that she must be capable of more, since running is “in [her]...
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...genetic. Wanting to unlock this potential in herself, she decides to join running group with Cecelia (which irritates Cecelia). While Maxine’s speed does improve over time, it eventually plateaus, and she...
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Chapter 17
...older, she notices her siblings’ own lives developing alongside hers: Bronson is increasingly rebellious, and Cecelia begins dating a 20-year-old. A major change in Maxine’s own life comes after her family...
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Chapter 18
...her room, which she’s made her own since moving out of her shared room with Cecelia. She especially values her desk, where she does all of her homework. As a result...
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Chapter 23
Maxine and Cecelia wear braces for 18 months. Afterwards, Maxine’s teeth are slightly better, but Cecelia has undergone...
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