Toni Morrison's "Recitatif" tells the story of two young girls who become friends while living in an orphanage. The girls are separated after four months of living together, but encounter each other several times throughout their lives.

Early in the story, we are told that the girls are of different races. Twyla recalls her distaste at being "stuck in a strange place with a girl from a whole other race" and says that the two "looked like salt and pepper." Despite their differences, the two girls bond over their shared circumstances. Both of the girls have living mothers who are unable to care for them, resulting in the girls being "dumped" in an orphanage:

My mother danced all night and Roberta's was sick. That's why we were taken to St. Bonny's.

Racial division and prejudice are two of the main themes of the story. Morrison communicates these themes by intentionally neglecting to tell us which girl is white and which is black. She gives inconclusive hints throughout the story of the girls' races, but gives no explicit revelations. Twyla recalls her mother telling her that people of Roberta's race "never washed their hair" and "smelled funny." The girls differ in appearance and taste in food. As they grow older, they differ in socioeconomic status and taste in music. They are on opposite sides of a busing protest during their second-to-last encounter with each other.

Morrison's deliberate use of racially ambiguous language invites readers to explore and challenge their own notions and preconceptions of race. The use of racial ambiguity in the story also drives home the point that all people are essentially the same, regardless of race, gender, social class, and all of the other things that many let divide them.