People, mostly white, were out on Massachusetts Avenue getting their Starbucks fixes and ordering Sunday brunch. A woman, pointing at her menu, said, “Oh, maybe hash browns? Let’s do that!”
The author is emphasizing the varying experiences. This highlights privilege-- the fact that (white) people have the choice to look past and move on with their lives as if nothing happened. Mindless consumption and action of those more privileged hinders progress for the oppressed.
. The morning sunshine tinted the destruction golden. The shards of shattered windows winked in the light.
The author juxtaposes the gory, traumatic events to iridescent imagery and pieces of the city. Is this to highlight beauty in a tragedy? To highlight how easy it is too move on and look past crisis?
Jafari, who lived a few blocks away, didn’t know who was supposed to clean up the mess. On a Sunday morning in a week where it felt like the world was erupting and it was hard to say or do anything to make it better, he figured he could do this much.
This portion speaks to the mutual hopelessness or astonishment that much of the nation faced. This brings up the question, What do you do in this situation? Who is responsible for dealing with a crisis? If you can't depend on your government or law enforcement, then who?