.... Because the lady was black and she told her kids that to Chinese people they (blacks) all look the same and therefore could get away with stealing food. It had no negative connotations whatsoever, merely she was aware of the fact different races have a hard time distinguishing people of different races that closely resemble each other. So the race was an important detail of the story.

The reference to "Large" black woman was to let the reader know she was clearly NOT STARVING or deprived from food.

Had someone of another race tried to pull this off- maybe it would have worked too, maybe not as easy. I don't know. But it worked well for her and her kids.

Don't play the race card on my post....