The assignment that was posted here is not the assignment I expect you to complete over April break. That assignment is above.
However, this an interesting poster, no? Can anyone find any more facts about it? How does this poster communicate it's message?
Post what you learn for extra credit. Cite your sources.
Richard's choices had formed his character from immature to mature. This is when he was a little kid. He decided to burn the house. “I pulled several straws from the broom and help them to the fire until they blazed; I rushed to the windows and brought the flame in touch with the hems of the curtains. My brother shook his head. ‘Naw,’ he said. He spoke too late. Red circles were eating into the white cloth; then a flare of flames shot out.” (Page 4) Then he resented his father by killing the kitten. “I pulled several straws from the broom and help them to the fire until they blazed; I rushed to the windows and brought the flame in touch with the hems of the curtains. My brother shook his head. ‘Naw,’ he said. He spoke too late. Red circles were eating into the white cloth; then a flare of flames shot out.” (Page 4) As time goes on Richard's mother needed him to buy groceries for her. “She slammed the door and I heard the key turn in the lock. I shook with fright. I was alone upon the dark, hostile streets and gangs after me. I had the choice of being beaten at home or away from home. I clutched the stick, crying, trying to reason. If I were beaten at home, there was absolutely nothing that I could do about it; but if I were beaten in the streets, I had a chance to fight and defend myself. I walked slowly down the sidewalk, coming closer to the gang of boys, holding the stick tightly.” (Page 18) He chose to fight. In the salon he met people offering him alcohol. “The man who had dragged me in urged me to drink it, telling me that it would not hurt me I refused. ‘Drink it; it’ll make you feel good,’ he said.” (Page 20) He knew which things were right or wrong. When his mother was paralyed which she cannot move, he knew that he should feel ashamed of himself because he was old enough to take care of people. “When the neighbors offered me food, I refused, already ashamed that so often in my life I had to be fed by strangers. And after I had been prevailed upon to eat I would eat as little as possible, feeling that some of the shame of charity would be taken away. It pained me to think that other children were wondering if I were hungry, and whenever they asked me if I wanted food, I would say no, even though I was starving.” (Page 86)
ReplyDeleteThe Jim Crow Era and now have changed considerably. Richard grew up in a community that didn't support learning and a community that expected blacks to become nothing. Richard was one of the few who wished to learn. When he expressed his interest to learn to a white woman she thought Richard was stupid. “Well I want to be a writer, I mumbled…you’ll never be a writer, she said. Who on earth put such ideas into your nigger head?” (P.147). The teaching system wasn't a real teaching system. Most of the teachers themselves didn't know much and they didn't seem to care. Teachers could punish their students if they thought they deserved it. “I walked slowly to her desk, expecting to be lectured, but my heart quickened when I saw her go to the corner and select a long green, limber switch and came toward me.” (P.106). Today people have dreams and goals and can accomplish them. Teachers care about their students and want to teacher them. the teachers can't beat students but they can send them to detention. Blacks and whites were like people from different planets. Blacks were never allowed around whites and if they were they had to act humble. Growing up being aught to be careful around whites affected blacks greatly. Even when a black person moved to a non-racial place they were still unconsciously doing what they were taught back at home. “But I was aware that she was a white girl and that her body was pressed close against mine, an incident that had never happened never happened to me before in my life, an incident charged with the memory of dread.” (P.270). Richard has had past experience with white bosses. He know they would get mad if he asked for a favor. Although, he was working in the North for a Jewish couple Richard did not know how to approach them when he wanted a day off. . “As the date to the examination drew near, I was faced with another problem. How could I get a free day without loosing my job? In the South it would have been an unwise policy for a Negro to have gone to his white boss and ask for a day off for an examination for another job.” (P.267). Even places that were known as "free" sometimes were still segregated. Harlem in the North was considered a great place for blacks to live. Richard thought the same. “Confidently I entered and was surprised to see a white clerk behind the desk, I hesitated. I’d like a room, I said. Not here, he said. But isn’t this Harlem? I asked. Yes, but this hotel is for whites only, he said.” (P.350). Today not allowing people to stay in a hotel because of their race is illegal. The Jim Crow Era has changed and now a days people. are more accepting
ReplyDeleteThe Jim Crow Era and the Modern Era are very different because everything has changed since then. Whites treated Blacks differently because of their skin color. "The shop was always crowded with black men and women pawing over cheap suits and dresses. And they paid whatever price the white man asked. The boss, his son, and the clerk treated the Negroes with open contempt, pushing, kicking, or slapping them." (pg. 179). The Blacks were getting hurt because they wouldn't do what they asked them to do. "After a moment or two I heard shrill screams coming from the rear room of the store; later the woman stumbled out, bleeding, crying, and holding her stomach, her clothing torn." (pg. 179). Blacks and whites were always separated in the Jim Crow Era. They couldn't eat in the same place together or go to the same school together. "Color hate defined the place of black life as below that of white life; and the black man, responding to the same dreams as the white man, strove to bury within his heart his awareness of this difference because it made him lonely and afraid." (pg. 266). The discrimination in the Jim Crow Era hurt Richard so badly that he would rather live under a dictator instead of living there. "In order to escape the racial attack that went to the roots of my life, I would have gladly accepted any way of life but the one in which I found myself. I would have agreed to live under a system of feudal oppression..." (pg. 265). Richard was a kind of person who wanted to go to school because he had a goal that he wanted to reach;he wanted to be a writer. But the problem is is that his mom, his grandmother, and Aunt Addie all want him to go to a religious school. "She proposed that, when the fall school term started, I should be enrolled in the religious school rather than a secular one. If I refused, I was placing myself not only in the position of a horrible infidel but of a hardhearted ingrate." (pg. 104). Many things has changed since the Jim Crow Era, like people accepting people for who they are and everyone becoming equals.
ReplyDeleteThe decisions Richard make during the 1920s contribute to the development of his character, expressing both strong and weak aspects. "I took Betsy and ran all the way home, glad that I had not sold her” (pg 70). After a white woman offers Richard ninety seven cents for Betsy, he decides to reject the offer because he has enough pride to know that he shouldn't sell Betsy to a white person. "'Well, I want to be a writer,' I mumbled, unsure of myself. I had not planned to tell her that, but she made me feel so utterly wrong and of no account that I needed to bolster myself" (pg 147). Richard lacks self-confidence after a white woman questions why he is in school because he is uncertain about his future. Because of his insecurity and self-doubt, he decides that he needs to support himself by saying that he wants to be a writer, which was quite a high goal for a black person to achieve in the 1920s.
ReplyDelete“The woman had assaulted my ego; she had assumed that she knew my place in life, what I felt, what I ought to be, and I resented it with all my heart” (pg 147). Here, Richard decides to quit his job after a white woman insults his decision to become a writer. The treatment of white people towards Richard has made him stronger and more determined to become a writer. “I had long wanted to ask her to tell me about the books that she was always reading...” (pg 38). Richard's decision to read books shows that Richard is educated and independent. In the 1920s, most blacks weren't educated, but Richard chooses to read and write which isolates him from the black society. "I burned to learn to read novels and I tortured my mother into telling me the meaning of every strange word I saw, not because the word itself had any value, but because it was the gateway to a forbidden and enchanting land" (pg 40). Richard takes a risk by stepping out of his restrictions to read books, proving that he is a bold character.
Richard Wright has gone through many events in his life. These events helped shape his view on the way he looks at life and the society around him. . Throughout his life experiences Wright learns that society will always try to keep you down and to get somewhere in life you need to ignore all and do things your way.
ReplyDelete“‘Here is you speech.’ He said… ‘I’ve written my own speech already’… ‘What can you alone say to them? You have no experience…’” (Wright, pg 174
“‘Did you really write that story?’ they asked me. ‘Yes’… ‘Where’d you get it from?’ ‘I made it up.’ ‘You didn’t. You copied it out of a book.’… They were convinced that I had no told them the truth.” (Wright, pg 166-167)
. “It was presumed that we black boys took their nakedness for granted…for we blacks were not considered human anyway.” (Wright, pg 201-202)
“‘Nigger you think you’re white don’t you?’ ‘No sir’ ‘You’re acting mighty like it’… ‘This is a white man’s work around here.’” (Wright, pg 188
“‘But why do a thing like that for a white man?’ ‘I’d feel like a dog.’ ‘To them both of us are dogs’ he said.” (Wright, pg 240-241)
BTW I have no idea if I'm doing this right
Richard Wright learns that society exclusion of African Americans negatively influenced/affected them mentally and physically. During the episode when Richard was working at Crane’s optical shop, two white men threatened to kill Richard forcing him to leave because he was black and they were white. “I was black; I lived in the South. I would never learn to operate those machines as long as those two white men in there stood by them. Anger and fear welled in me as I felt what I had missed; I learned forward and clapped my hands to my face.” (Page 192) Richard felt that Shorty humiliated himself for a quarter, which was not worth it. The Jim Crow law prevented them from getting a job, which explained Shorty's desperate behavior for a quarter. “The white man laughed softly, jingled some coins in his pocket, took out one and thumped it to the floor. Shorty stooped to pick it up and the white man bared his teeth and swung his foot into Shorty’s rump with all the strength of his body.” (Page 228) Richard tried explaining to a white woman that he was still in school because he wanted to be a writer. Although, the white woman told Richard that no black man will ever be a writer and he must be out of his mind. Despite the amount of effort a black man put into his works, he will not be successful because of the Jim Crow law. “A what?” she demanded. “A writer,” I mumbled. “For what?” “To write stories,” I mumbled defensively. “You’ll never be a writer,” she said.” (Page 147) Stereotypically, a white woman asked Richard if he stole when Richard decided to work for a white family. The woman said she did not want any “sassy nigger” around. The white woman implied that she had a negative thought on Richard because he was a “Negro”. “Promising to report the next morning at six o’ clock, I walked home and pondered on what could possibly have been in the woman’s mind to have made her ask me point-blank if I stole” (Page 146) During the liquor scene, the white man thought Richard was a hijacker. The quote provided had implied that the white man thought Richard stole because of the stereotype about black man stealing. “The white man and the black boy had seen me loitering in the vicinity of their liquor and had thought I was a hijacker; and they had used me in disposing of their liquor.” (Page 222)
ReplyDeleteA difference between modern era and Jim Crow era is that during the Jim Crow era, the black people’s actions were restricted. In order to survive, they had to learn to keep their feelings and opinions to themselves. It was not wise to speak freely in front of white men. It is known that “when you’re in front of white people, think before you act, think before you speak.” (pg184) Everywhere blacks went, they had to be careful of their attitude, their speech, and their actions. Saying or doing what the white people consider “wrong” would get them killed within seconds. Once, when Richard needed a day off from his work to take the examination for another job, he didn’t know how to tell his boss. “In the South it would have been an unwise policy for a Negro to have gone to his white boss and asked for the time to take an examination for another job… he would have been risking an argument that might have led to violence.” (pg267) Although Richard only wanted to make more money, his boss would have misunderstood him and assumed that he doesn’t like the job. This would have gotten Richard into deep trouble. Even if the whites are wrong, the black people can’t do anything about it. It’s not like the white people are going to believe them. In the Jim Crow era, even if the blacks are treated unfairly, they can’t do anything about it. But in the modern era, the black people are vicious. If anyone wronged them, they would fight back without fear. Today, the black people are no longer restricted. The white people no longer have authority over the black people so the black people speak whatever they want, do whatever they want, without fears.
ReplyDeleteThe Jim Crow laws were laws that the state passed to still keep the strings of slavery alive, even though it has already been banned. These laws separate the whites and the African Americans, giving the whites economical, educational, and social advantages over the blacks. The Jim Crow poster was created to help people realize that those laws are unfair and corrupts life. The main headline of this poster is “Jim Crow Must Go!” The fact that it even rhymes tries to draw in the attention of people but also mocks the laws of Jim Crow. Jim Crow is originally a song and it does rhyme but it makes fun of African Americans, therefore so does the poster. However, the smaller subtitles say it all. “Jim Crow blights the lives of Negro and white Americans alike. For prejudice corrupts.” The poster is basically saying that the Jim Crow laws are bad and they make life a lot harder than it should be. It is saying that those laws create an unfair and biased opinion against the blacks and it’s destroying the equality of the world that the Founding Men originally strived for. If Jim Crow exists, how can equality of all men exist? This poster is meant to show that to the entire world so that people will open their eyes and see what is happening.
ReplyDeleteThe poster above by Henry Wallace the vice-president of Franklin Roosevelt who was replaced by Harry Trueman in 1994. Believed that people had equal rights. That African Americans and white’s should be treated the same;
ReplyDeleteThe Jim crow era had changed drastically over time. People who are colored aren’t separated, then don’t have to put up with the attitudes people give them, they are treated like another joined together as one. Growing up and having a job for African Americans was just plain old crazy back then. “Well I want to be a writer, I mumbled…you’ll never be a writer, she said. Who on earth put such ideas into your nigger head?” (P.147). Their was just no way for an African amerian to be able to run their own business, Its always them working for a white American. And so the poster represents how unfair the Jim crow era was to people. Also the fact that it corrupts our children‘s minds and future abilitys. The quote at the bottom in my words mean that the Jim crow era ruins the future of both white Americans and African Americans alike.
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ReplyDelete-Throughout the book, there were symbols that tell Richard in a sense that he is powerless. One time, Richard asked Ella to read him one of the books she was reading. The tale was Bluebeard and His Seven Wives. After reading much of the story, Granny came in and stopped her. -"You stop that, you evil gal!" she shouted. "I want none of that Devil stuff in my house!"..."But I want to hear what happened!" I wailed, dodging another blow that I thought was coming. "That's the Devil's work!" she shouted. [Pg 39]- In the tale, Bluebeard married seven wives and then slain them. Killing your wife is one of the most dreadful and sinful acts a man can ever do, but he did it seven times. Granny told Ella to run off and Richard wasn't able to convince Granny to have him finished the rest of the tale. Therefore, Richard is powerless towards Granny in this case. Granny is on symbol.
ReplyDelete-Another time, Richard was with Uncle Hoskins in a buggy. A horse pulled it. The horse pulled the buggy towards the water and Richard was afraid he would fall into the water. -"Richard, would you like to see this horse drink water out of the middle of the river?" "Yes," I said laughing..."Sit down or you'll fall out!" Uncle Hoskins shouted. "Let me out!" I screamed. [Pg 51]- In the end, Richard didn't actually fall into the river. However, he didn't trust Uncle Hoskins from then on. Richard was scared and loses his courage during the buggy trip. The fear of falling into the water is another symbol of Richard being powerless. Richard lost his cool, knowing that he could fall into the water and drown.
-After "uncle" and Aunt Maggie left Richard's house, Richard's mother couldn't earn enough money to feed Richard and his brother. Therefore, Richard decided to sell his uncle's gift, Betsy. During his trip, he had a chance to sell Betsy, but chose not to. Richard feels he has a power over whites since he has something they don't have: Betsy. However, Betsy died a week later after his decision and lost the power. -"I just love this dog," she said, "and I'm going to buy her. I haven't got a dollar. All I have is ninety-seven cents."... A week later Betsy was crushed to death beneath the wheels of a coal wagon. I cried and buried her in the back yard and drove a barrel staving into the ground at the head of her grave. My mother's sole comment was: "You could have had a dollar. But you can't eat a dead dog, can you?"[Pg 69-71]- The loss of Betsy is another symbol that symbolizes Richard being powerless.
-When Richard begins his first week back in school, his conflict with Aunt Addie exploded. Aunt Addie was Richard’s teacher. One afternoon in class, she sees crumbs of walnut meat scattered around Richard’s desk. She accused Richard of eating those in class. Richard knew at once that the boy in front of him had been eating them. –“You know better than that,” she said, tapping a ruler across my knuckles… “Aunt Addie, my walnuts are here in my pocket”[pg 105]- Aunt Addie or Miss Wilson’s false accusation that Richard ate in class symbolizes Richard’s lack of power.
-On the last night of the revival, the preacher of Granny’s church asked all young men who aren’t members of the church to go to the front bench. The preacher said bold statements that give the young men a chance to deny God, but none spoke. Then the preacher asked their mothers to kneel and pray for their only sons. Then, baptism would take place. –“Now, you young men,” he began in a brisk, clipped tone, “I want all of you to know God. I’m not asking you to join the church, but it’s my duty as a man of God to tell you that you are in danger."...The preacher was now shaking the branch over another boy’s head. I sighed. I had been baptized. [Pg 152-155]- Richard’s inability to beat God in church, which causes him to be baptized, is another sign of his weakness.
-5 pieces of Textual Evidence-
"At the age of twelve, before I had had one full year of formal schooling, I had a conception of life that no experience would ever erase, a predilection for what was real that no argument could ever gainsay, a sense of the world that was mine and mine alone, a notion as to what life meant that no education could ever alter, a conviction that the meaning of living came only when one was struggling to wring a meaning out of meaningless suffering." (Wright pg. 100) These werethe words of Richard Wright when he was a boy growing up in a time when color played a major role in the world you lived in. The blacks were oppressed at this time and lost hope in the chance of being treated right. Some, however, wanted to make a difference. That is probably why the poster seen above was made. Black (parents) did not want a world where youths already had a bitter aspect of life. What black men and women wished was for the Jim Crow image to go. Jim Crow portrayed blacks as people not to be taken seriously of. Jim Crow formed how whites acted towards blacks and blacks wanted to change that. Wishing for future generations to not have the same thought of their culture. The thought that it was something that condemned them to be inferior, to be ridiculed, to be stepped on. "This was the culture from which i sprang. This was the terror from which I fled." (Wright pg. 257). Richard Wright's words describe exactly what every black man at some point thought and felt. Thoughts like these came from the hate whites aimed at blacks. Jim Crow made whites act the way they did. So, the poster was made to communicate that there is a whole different side to the black man or in this case the black boy. The poster shows a boy with a pen and a book, thinking. Showing that the black man can think and can receive an education. That black people were not like Jim Crow all the time because everyone is happy sometimes. Everyone dances at some points but black people were not dumb. They could learn and they were human. The poster goes against what Jim Crow created. The image that black people were like aliens. Making Jim Crow go would decrease the hate and the discrimination to the blacks. With Jim Crow gone the idea that "Color hate defined the place of black life as below that of white life," (Wright pg. 266) would be erased because a new image would be made. One that would make black people be viewed totally differently. That was the purpose of the poster to communicate that black people were people, people that would learn and have an education. People that should and would be taken seriously.
ReplyDelete"Jim Crow must go" was a motto that many African Americans lived by when they felt the thrash of the Jim Crow Laws in America. Henry A Wallace, the creator of the rare pamphlet above, has a long history in American politics. Wallace was a republican, so he supported the wealthy people, but soon became a democrat after serving as vice president in the period that Roosevelt was in office. A civil wars advocate, Wallace was popular with the farmers and the industrial working America, so he was more accustomed to the idea of Jim Crow in the 1950’s, with low class people. The pamphlet was made by a group of whites that repealed the Federal legislation against race discrimination, during the civil rights movement. Politician Henry Wallace was among this group of white people. The poster depicts a black child with a pencil in his hand. We can imply that the boy is at school, and looking up as if there was something inferior in front of him. And there was something inferior that he could look up to, the influence of the Jim Crow laws. I believe this poster delivers a very powerful image of what the people in the 1960’s went through, and who it affected the most, the children. The rare pamphlet represented the message of the hopes of blacks in the 1959’s, and what makes it more important is the history behind it. The fact that a white group of political leaders supported the abolishing of the Jim Crow Laws gave a powerful message to blacks, there is hope.
ReplyDeleteWorks cited-
-http://arklite.blogspot.com/2010/01/sovereignty-resolutionsecession-or.html
-http://arklite.blogspot.com/2010/01/sovereignty-resolutionsecession-or.html
-This poster is expressing that in the little boy's face he is feeling pain, misery and a need. The quote is saying that there should be something done about Caucasians mistaking African Americans as Jim Crows. In other words, black people in white people's eyes are fools who are worthless and are around only for picking crops and entertaining their master. This little boy in this picture has a slight hint of hurt and confusion in his face. He probably is hurt from Caucasians disgracing his race and repeatedly putting them down. Between the late 1870s and late 1960s the Jim Crow Era started to take place and gave African Americans an absurd characterization. The Jim Crow Laws led to the abuse of African Americans and the cruelty they had to endure.
ReplyDelete-Some examples of Jim Crow Laws had more to do with segregation. For example , due to racial factors, Caucasians and African Americans were not allowed at the same school. Therefore the education blacks received were insufficient compared to whites. The Jim Crow Era exemplified discrimination. There were many people who tried to put an end to the Laws such as Charles Sumner and Benjamin F. Butler. Although the revolt did not work many people tried following those two men and soon there was tolerance and acceptance for African Americans.
-http://www.shanaburg.com/blog/?p=19
-http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm
-http://academic.udayton.edu/race/02rights/jcrow02.htm
In the book Richard matured alot. At first he was foolish and did alot of childish things and portrayed some of Jim Crows qualities. As he got older he became more mature and conducted himself in a civil manner. In the picture above the little boy seems depressed and sad. Most African Americans felt that way during this time of racism. "Jim Crow must go !" was commonly used by the Whites because thats how they perceived African Americans and they wanted nothing to do with them. Everything was segregated; water fountains, movie theaters, restaurants etc. “But why do a thing like that for a white man?’ ‘I’d feel like a dog.’ ‘To them both of us are dogs’ he said.” (Wright, pg 240-241) Is one of the things said in the book that represents how things were from an African Americans eyes and they were usually right. Also in the caption under the photo where its says " For prejudice corrupts " it does because it took the lives of many people and at that point in time it was a struggle for all African Americans.
ReplyDelete