Coming of Age in Mississippi free essay sample

What did the murder of Samuel O’Quinn do to Anne Moody? 2. What were the causes of Anne Moody’s relationship with her mother changing when she went to college at Tougaloo? 3. During the movement, why was organizing in Canton, Mississippi so much more difficult than in Jackson, Mississippi? Introduction Coming of Age in Mississippi is an autobiographical book written by Anne Moody. The book entails the struggles throughout an African American Childs’ life from four-years-old through womanhood in the South and the role that race and racism played in America during that time. It helps one to become aware of life in the South before and during the Civil Rights Movement while showing the triumphs and the enduring problems that came out of the Civil Rights Movement. The book is divided into four sections: Childhood, High School, College, and The Movement. Childhood The book began in a child’s point of view, perfectly told, of growing up in rural Mississippi in the 1940s. We will write a custom essay sample on Coming of Age in Mississippi or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page She described the landscape, the people, and her own emotions with perfect clarity. While showing racism from the perspective of a child, she included her parents’ divorce following the constant moving of her family due to the fact that her mother struggled to feed the family on her own. Essie Mae experienced the repercussions of The Jim Crow Law at an early age. The book discussed the competition and tensions within the black community, the black churches, religion, and folk medicines. She began school and was a very good student, spirited and meticulous. Furthermore she was a hard worker outside the home as a domestic cleaner. Before she was even in middle school, Essie Mae got her first job working for a white lady. She swept her porches in exchange for two gallons of clabbered milk and seventy-five cents a week. This was the part of the book where she showed life through the eyes of â€Å"the help. † In that she worked for a white school teacher that treated her like an equal, let her eat dinner with them, and encouraged her to go to college. Her income helped to provide food and clothes for the entire family. I admired how she never expressed any resentment about needing to contribute to keeping the family going at a young age. She never viewed it as her parents’ fault. It was just the way it was, and she was willing to do what it took to help support her family. High School This section of the book delineated her experiences at high school and through her teenage years. As she grew older, her eyes were opened to the terrible racial problems and violence towards African Americans in Mississippi. This section began with the lynching of Emmett Till and how it affected the black community. Essie Mae then learned that Mrs. Burke (the white lady she worked for at the time) was active in â€Å"the guild† (aka the KKK) and started to worry that she would try to frame her for a false wrong-doing. She started showing signs of being in invariable pressure during this time, both in her body (headaches and losing weight) and in her mind (feeling trapped). The feeling of being stuck working for someone who you knew was going around organizing the murders of people of your race must have been traumatizing. It was in high school when the Ku Klux Klan activity in her hometown ramped up and she started to develop her fighting spirit that carried her out of white people’s homes and into the Civil Rights Movement. She was angry and fed up with the system, white people, and even the black people. But I also hated Negroes. I hated them for not standing up and doing something about the murders. In fact, I think I had a stronger resentment toward Negroes for letting the whites kill them than toward the whites. Anyway, it was at this stage in my life that I began to look upon Negro men as cowards (pg. 136). She started to become aware of the Civil Rights Movement (CRM) and the work of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) even though her mother would not tell her anything about it. She became sick of people and tired of the way things were in Centerville. Through it all she still excelled in high school and was an excellent basketball player, while using these things as a means of escape from the violence that surrounded her. She decided to spend the summer in New Orleans. She worked in a chicken factory as a strike breaker then found work in a restaurant making more money than she ever had before. Essie Mae started becoming a young woman, changed her hair and the way she dressed. She started having to deal with sexual advances from men, including her mother’s partner, Raymond, that caused immense problems in the family. She quickly grew tired of Raymond looking at her and moved in with her father and his wife until she graduated from high school from one of the new â€Å"separate but equal schools† in Wilkinson County. This section ended when Essie Mae received a basketball scholarship to attend Natchez Junior College in the fall. College In the shortest section of the book, Essie Mae began her college career at Natchez Junior College. She was very excited and nervous about college but was disappointed with Natchez. There were tensions with some of her teachers and the administration. She was tough, organized, and opinionated. She was a loner but worked hard on the basketball team and did excellent in school. She protested against the condition of the food at the college and led a demonstration that foreshadowed her role in the Civil Rights Movement. Her passion led her to Tougaloo Southern Christian College, the highly respected Historically Black College, in the state capital Jackson, Mississippi. Tougaloo was at the center of a lot of the activity of the Civil Rights Movement in the South. It was here that she made her first white friend, a fellow Civil Rights activist, Joan Trumpauer. Joan was a secretary for Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and they were starting a voter registration drive in Greenwood and Greenville. The SNCC was recruiting students to participate and Essie was asked to go canvass every other weekend and agreed without hesitation. This was what started her activity in the Civil Rights Movement that led her to meet many leaders of the Movement, such as Medgar Evers and Reverend King. As Essie Mae began to get wrapped up in the SNCC it started reflecting in her schoolwork. At the end of the section she decided to start her own sit-in at a bus station. Essie Mae and her friend Rose went into the white section at the Trailways. It did not take long before some drunken white man showed up and started harassing them. They missed several busses due to the fact that they were not being announced. Rose was scared and begged to leave as the crowd grew larger and louder. They backed out slowly and were saved by a black man that told them to get in the car and drove them all the way back to the college. Through this experience Essie Mae learned quickly that she needed planning and an escape plan to do a sit-in again. The Movement The final section of the book, Essie Mae profoundly described her experiences in the Civil Rights Movement. This section of the autobiography was filled with astounding events, highs and lows, trials and tribulations, and reflected on how hard it was for black people to survive during that time. This section began with Essie Mae sending her mother a NAACP flyer for a convention in Jackson hoping that her mother would be as excited as she was. In response to Essie Mae’s letter her mother replied angrily, she claimed that if Essie Mae did not stop her activities in the Movement that she was going to get herself and her family killed. This was when she started to reflect and realized that she could never go back home again now that she had been affiliated with the NAACP. â€Å"But something happened to me as I got more and more involved in the Movement. It no longer seemed important to prove anything. I had found something outside myself that gave meaning to my life. † (pg.286) This is where one gets a great sense of why she became so involved, her exhaustion from overwork and stress, the tensions it caused with her family, the very real risk of white aggression and terrorization. Essie Mae became friends with John Salter, who was in charge of the NAACP, through him she learned that sit-in demonstrations were starting in Jackson. This was when she was asked by John to lead the famous Woolworth Sit-In. During th e sit-in, Essie Mae showed her strength and how determined that she was to never give up no matter how rough things became. After the murder of Medgar Evers, the Jackson NAACP leader, the militancy in Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and SNCC started to rally together protesters quickly with the help of Essie Mae, of course. They were all gathered up quickly by the police and hauled off to the fairgrounds and were treated worse than swine in an auction house. Not long after things get more violent and hard to handle, CORE opened an office in Canton to start a voter registration drive in Madison County, Essie Mae seen this as an opportunity to start fresh and was determined to go. This was a very difficult area to organize because of the black indifference and white violence. Everyone pleaded with her not to go even Reverend King himself. â€Å"I also felt there was a chance of winning the battle regardless of how costly it turned out to be,† she declared (pg. 312). After being there for quite some time barley surviving she got on SNCC’s payroll and they provided food and clothes to help the poor blacks in the area. Although she opposed the Freedom Vote Campaign, she still worked hard as a volunteer. Fatigued and in poor health, she decided to leave Canton eventually and headed to New Orleans. She felt alienated from her family because they feared her activity in the Movement and got involved with CORE in there. In May of 1964, she returned to Canton to work on the Mississippi Freedom Summer campaign, a colossal campaign to educate African Americans on the Movement and encourage them to vote. The program also provided clinics, schools, and social services for the poor. In the last chapter of the book Essie Mae boarded the bus to Washington to attend the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) hearings. Everyone was singing freedom songs while she was wondering if anything would ever come of all they had worked for. The End Conclusion Essie Mae’s passion for doing what was right in the face of danger and pain was significant and admirable. She would rather die fighting the system than to live under the system. She did not seem to realize it, but it took an unusual level of strength and courage to do the things that she did. It takes people like her to make change happen and become the leaders that get people to act in spite of their fears. Throughout reading this book, my eyes were opened to the many difficulties that blacks endured throughout the Movement. It showed me racism from the eyes of a child all the way through to racism in the eyes of a strong, black woman of the South. I feel that I more deeply understand what they went through, though I will never experience it for myself. I really enjoyed reading this book especially the first section due to the uncanny way that she captured her childhood voice in her writing. I think this was a great book to read in this class as an assignment and I would urge that you do assign it in the future. Coming of Age in Mississippi free essay sample Yet in reality, not all people are born and raised in an ideal environment. In many instances, a person may be born into a life of struggle and challenges, in which case coming of age becomes a matter of interaction between the influence of elements in life to a person and the same person’s response to such elements. In Anne Moody’s memoir, Coming of Age in Mississippi, published in 1968, the reader sees the author’s remarkable coming of age. In a way, it can be said that the elements in Anne’s life has caused her to witness conflict between discrimination and inequality. Major elements such as characters, setting, and conflict contribute to the plot that traces her development from a young girl to a highly principled woman. To begin with, it is important to know that the setting plays a part in Anne’s development. Anne was born in Centreville, Mississippi in 1940 to an impoverished African-American family. We will write a custom essay sample on Coming of Age in Mississippi or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Already, the time and place of her birth give clues to what kind of life she is destined to face. Firstly, life in Mississippi is obviously varied as factors such as time and socioeconomic standing affects its quality. But because Anne was born in a specific time in Mississippi, it is easy to assume what the type of setting it was. Mississippi in the 1940s was a place deeply entrenched in the practices of racial segregation. It was a time when it was legal for society to treat individuals according to the color of their skin. In virtually all of these instances, the blacks as well as other â€Å"colored† people were marginalized. Anne squarely belonged to this faction. And because she was born to a poor family, one can only imagine the kind of struggle that she had to face. Not only was she marginalized on account of her race but she also was at the lowest economic standing among her own people. Being in a rural setting also did not help as it was in such a place that antiquated beliefs in the hierarchy of races tend to flourish most. Similar to the setting, the characters around Anne also serve as an instrumental element in her coming of age. Anne is essentially surrounded by people of diverse beliefs. The society, which may serve as a collective character in itself, is polarized by stances regarding the interaction between whites and blacks. On one side of the group are the ones who believe in the equality of the races; on the other are those who advance the idea of white supremacy and black inferiority. Also, there are specific characters in her life that have different influences in her. First is her mother, Toosweet. Whereas Toosweet does encourage Anne to study and strives for her as well as her siblings, she is pessimistic and seems to have accepted upon herself that the fate of the blacks will not change. In contrast to Toosweet is Mrs. Rice, Anne’s teacher. Mrs. Rice acts as a second mother to Anne yet unlike Toosweet she encourages Anne’s budding passion for the civil rights movement. She informs Anne of the NAACP and of the race relations in Mississippi. She is in a way a guide that encourages Anne to join the movement in opposition to Toosweet’s disapproval of Anne’s actions. The coexistence of the setting and the characters in turn contribute to the main conflict of the story. As said before, Mississippi was a strongly segregated state. As such, the differences in the characters’ stance with regard to the issue of race provide a conflict that the main character, Anne, has to confront. Anne witnesses the oppression of African Americans in the hands of white people. Apart from the social injustices that are made effectively legal by the segregation laws, the treatment of blacks have become atrocious to the point that murder and all forms of indignities were being perpetuated with impunity. The question that arises, therefore, is what Anne ought to do. Should she remain silent and accepting, as her mother instructs her, for the sake of her personal safety, or should she fight for her rights, as is her desire and on encouragement of her teacher, for both her personal and the black people collective freedom from oppression? Anne’s response to the conflict that arises from the setting she exists in and the characters’ treatment of racial issues in turn drives the plot of the story. As the story unfolds, the reader learns of how Anne eventually transforms from a young, impoverished girl to an outspoken and strong advocate of the civil rights movement. One sees her achieve personal triumph in continuing her studies and opting to join the NAACP to advance equality among the races. Basically, her coming of age is highlighted by an inspiring acquisition of personal principles that promote her beliefs. Although the plot ends with uncertainty since it was published in 1968, the reader is given the assurance that she continues on with her advocacy as she can be seen riding a bus towards Washington D. C. wondering if her people can eventually overcome oppression. In conclusion, it is clear that the elements in Anne Moody’s life all work together to render her story a remarkable tale of struggle and triumph. Firstly, the setting of Anne’s life determines her standing in society. Then, the existence of various characters in the setting creates a conflict in the form of a question: should Anne fight for freedom or should she succumb to oppression? The conflict is resolved in the plot of her memoir wherein the writer learns her unraveling as a young woman. She acquires education, becomes the homecoming queen, and ultimately decides to take a stand against injustice. Her development from being a young impoverished girl to a spirited young woman is a tale of triumph. It is true that Anne could have followed any other life had she been born in another setting, with different people surrounding her, and different conflicts confronting her. But the fact of the matter is she was born in Mississippi in a time when injustice reigned; she is surrounded by specific people that helped shape her life experiences and her perception of the world. And as a result, she becomes a unique person with unique beliefs and principles. She became the Anne Moody that the reader becomes intimately aware of as her life unravels in the pages of her memoirs. Coming of Age in Mississippi free essay sample While all this was going on in the South some parts of the nation is living in a bubble of carefree living. â€Å"The Way We Never Were† by Stephanie Coontz depicts the other extreme way of life America was living in. You have one lifestyle of industrial living in New York, Chicago, and other Industrial advanced cities in that era, and then you have the corn growing and cotton picking farmers of the South that provided all the basic needs for the industrial booming cities in the northern region of the United States. In the autobiography written by Anne Moody, it depicts the extreme absurdity of racial classifications, the unwillingness to come together for a greater cause to provide equality for the human race in America, and what hatred because of people’s indifferences that people could not have control or abilities to adjust to conform to the majorities liking. While Anne does not question that race and racism are very real facts of life, she does show how absurd and arbitrary racial distinctions are. We will write a custom essay sample on Coming of Age in Mississippi or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page During Anne’s childhood, many whites publicly argued that blacks were genetically inferior to whites. When a group of people with the same interest and cause refuse to band together to improve their situation, improvement becomes impossible and without no end. Throughout this autobiography the willingness blacks are to accept injustice becomes a aggravating and frustrating fact because when you have everyone complaining about the lifestyle they are living, but don’t want to do anything about it to fix it you shouldn’t complain about the situation. If you complain you should step up to the plate and voice your opinion and the situation and advocated for a change. Emotions, feelings, and belief are a couple of the strongest motivators for people, a racial group, or a just cause. Like most of my elders say if you want it bad enough you will succeed. If there is a will there is a way. You just have question yourself if you will keep trying to reach your goal or will you collapse through all of the obstacles that you will to reach the road’s end. The want to be better than the person next to you, and to move up in class and in status without doing anything to get there beside what you are born with is the reason why prejudice against African-American happened. Even African-American had prejudice against other people of their race because of their skin color. The light-skin African-Americans as known as mulattos were prejudice against the darker-colored African-Americans. They often try to carve out a higher social status for themselves, despite the fact that they are legally no better off than blacks relative to whites. Its kind of ironic what people do to distance themselves from a â€Å"lower class of people† even when they are just as relatively the same as the people they try to distance themselves from. Finally, after meeting lighter-skinned blacks and whites who do not look down on her, Anne accepts that not all members of these groups are untrustworthy. However, prejudice nearly costs her important opportunities in her life, and makes her a suspicious and pessimistic person. While all this was going on in the South, â€Å"The Way We Never Were† depicts a totally different and opposite lifestyle as if they were living in a different world. Most of the elder of today remember how life was back in the 1950s and how â€Å"better† we were because we didn’t have the distraction of the internet, electronic game console, and the ever popular television. All of these forms of entertainment, some critics say, hinder our generation into becoming an individualist society without the discipline that was present in the 1950s. The good old time as some people call it, but as Stephanie Coontz explains we are not different today as we were fifty something years ago. All of the statistics and number are conclusive facts that we are the same as a human race as we were before. We praise for individuality, but with that comes the willingness to break out of the mold of what some parents think should be the ideal children. All of these current issues with today society were present back in the 1950s, but it wasn’t really voiced or became an issue of discussion as it is now days. Coontz systematically tears apart all of our myths about what families are, used to be, and ought to be. Its just amazing how much, as a whole, we believe these sources of news and what we hear from politicians and public policy analysts is merely a pick and choose of the truth to make stories interesting for the consumer to be attracted to. Some of the facts that were included in the novel written by Ms. Coontz’s novel surprised and amazed me because in my mind I believe that the families of the 1950s were what the majority of Americans seems it was like, â€Å"The Golden Age. † For instance, the common belief that American these days do not have marriages that last as long or they did in the 1950s and that teen pregnancy, marriages, and abortion were irrelevant back then is a total myth. It’s amazing how the things we want to hear and what we don’t want to hear becomes the truth in our minds without taking into consideration of the truth. We are all amazed and attracted to the perfect family lifestyle, and we believe what we want to believe. But the truth of the matter, is that we are no different today then we were decades ago. Remember the television show the Brady Bunch, and how we see there family as a loving, fair, and a family that was perfect; wishing we were like that perfect family. Like the common saying goes, we are not perfect if we were we wouldn’t be the human race that we are today. Nothing of that sort has been accomplished as a common fact in American society, even though we tend to believe that we were once a well to do society when we first started to make an image for the American people. After reading these two novels, it open my eyes up to the things that were once the truth for me and the images I had of the family life in the 1950s. We tend to only imagine the great things in life and leave the things that we don’t want to remember behind. The image of a white picket fence house with a dog, housewife, three children, and a loving environment has always been the image that was in my mind when I thought of the 1950, and its perfect family image. Anne Moore’s novel about the 1950s is the extreme negative side of the 1950s where we as a nation was ignorance to the equality for the human race instead of trying to better than the person next to you. You have slavery and the start of a equal nation for the people that was forcedly sent to the United States to do the dirty work of building the nation that we are so proud to live in today. Because you thought that they did all the dirty work for you and the jobs that no one wanted to do that they were any less of a human being then you are. Both of these novels showed how a nation that was so blinded, naive and ignorance hen can be the same now and we don’t even realize it. The success as a nation that raise from being the new and baby nation in the 1950s to what it is today, a super power, has showed how much we the people have change so that our nation can be what it is a today, the big brother. The United States is the nation that equates freedom, opportunity, and the right to be who we want to be. Because of the things that our nation as gone through in the past, we want to make it concrete that these things will not happen again, for instance slavery and not treating everyone as part of the human race. Through all of the trial and error that our nation has gone through, depicted in these two novels, we have gone a long way to overcome all the hardships and pictures of the bad choices we made. We try everything to make everyone that lives in this nation equal. Everyone has the opportunity for school, work, and to receive a helping hand when needed which we not available in the 1950s. These two books open my eyes to a lot of new things and that what this country can offer any one.