Irene was glad that he was being nice to Clare, and glad that Clare was having the opportunity to discover that some coloured men were superior to some white men.

I was surprised at this sentence because it seems like a very trivial thing to think about. Irene wants Clare to know that colored men can be superior to white men but I’m not sure why that would matter to her.  From what I’ve seen, I think Irene feels resentment towards Clare for considering white people a “trade up”.  Irene believes that just because you can pass, doesn’t mean you should — and definitely that you shouldn’t have to. Irene wants Clare to take pride in her negro heritage. She wants Black people to stop idolizing whiteness and learn to admire Black colored people for being equal if not “superior” in some aspects.

This also further suggests that Irene does not love Brian but instead views him as a trophy husband. She believes that he is the pinnacle of Blackness and wants to hold him up as a shining beacon of the Black community. This is why she is so adamant about Brian being a doctor and making things work in the US. To move to Brazil would almost be like giving up, but Irene wants to stay in America and do the work of uplifting the Black race.