Civil_Rights_Movement

Zekeriya Demir History 104-A Wendy L Wall Melissa Madera Paper #2 Civil Rights Movement Anne Moody was born in 1940, as a black girl of a black family. Like many others, her family was very poor. They were living in small houses, they were living in bad conditions, and they only had money to get some clothes and some food. Since they were black, they did not have rights as whites. Harvard Sitkoff mentioned in his essay [1] that, starting from 1940s - at the same time with Anne’s birth- economic growth of American economy was unbelievable. Besides economical improvement, earnings of black people in America are also increased. Black people started to gain power and money. They started to educate them selves. They started to get wealthier. Most importantly they also started to think about racism and their rights which are going to cause the Civil Rights Movement. If history of the Civil Rights Movement and Moody’s life would combined, it can be observed that they both grown up in the same way. Briefly, in 1940, Anne Moody was born and by the new economic order, rights of the civil became an important issue. As Anne grown, she realized the segregation between whites and African American, she experienced many things which helped her to become conscious, to understand how to behave, how to struggle, how to be successful, what is right and what is wrong, when to talk and when to be quiet such as poverty of black people, insensible death of blacks, taciturnity of blacks, white supremacy, limitation of black being a black girl, being involved in Civil Rights Movement. On the other hand, many people became conscious about segregation and civil rights in the same way. In the book “of Age in Mississippi”[2] it is written that when Anne is a child, after her mother is divorcing from her father they are moving to Centreville and there for the first time she figures out relationships between African-Americans. Her mother is pregnant from a guy called Raymond who has a lighter-skin family. After birth of the child, Raymond’s mother is taking the child. She is treating badly to Anne’s family. Raymond’s mother thinks that they are superior to Anne’s family because they have lighter skin. Between whites, there is no such a notion like lighter-skinned people. There are just whites and blacks. But between African-Americans, they have this segregation. When Anne realizes that segregation between blacks, she could not understand how it can be. It is the first time she sees a black oppressing another black. In Centreville she also sees that white people have houses that have nicely decorated gardens. But black people’s houses do not have beautiful gardens. In addition to that colored children are just allowed until 8th grade in high schools. These cause her to questioning what the difference is. When she asks the question to his mother, she avoids answering and she shouts to Anne to asking such a ridiculous questions. Anne’s mother is becoming a maid for a white family for 5 dollars after changing lots of job. Ms, Mr. Johnson and Ms Ola, owners of the house, are treating nicely to Anne’s family. They are the only black people at that place. Anne finds 2 white friends to play with. She sees that they have bicycles and skates and again she is trying to find a reasonable answer why whites have lots of things but blacks don’t. Even she is looking for differences between black genitalia and white genitalia. But she can not see any difference except their skin colors. Anne starts to work when she is very young to support his family. They are very poor and she has to work to buy enough food to survive. She is encountering with many other people and she experiences their distinct behaves. In her second job, she works for Mrs. Cleyborn. She teaches a lot of things to Anne including cooking. She is happy with them. Later on, she collects walnuts for some families and then she is starting to work for Linda Jean. She is taking care of a child and doing entire housework. Linda Jean firstly gives Anne good enough money but after Linda Jean’s mother, Mrs. Burke who does not like blacks, said Linda that why she earns 12$ while others get 6$. And then Linda Jean reduces Anne’s wage to 6 dollars. Mrs. Burke is a racist woman. She even does not want Anne to use front door. She wants her to use back door but Anne refuses to use back door. After 14 year-old black boy Emmet Till, is killed only for he whistled to a white women, Anne starts to worry about her life because she is black. While she is working in Mrs. Burke’s house, she broke plates by an accident. Mrs. Burke reminds her that the boy that was killed. Anne is affected very much from oppression of Mrs. Burke. She is in high school and big enough to understand Mrs. Burke’s ideas. She knows that Mrs. Burke racist and is going to try frightened and oppress her again. But Anne has no choice of leaving the job. She has to endure to survive. After that, Mrs. Burke inviting eight women to her house and they are talking about niggers. While they are talking Anne hears a word NCAAP. She is asking her mother about this word but her mother again does not say anything about it. Then she asks it to her teacher. For a long time her teacher talks about how blacks being violated and killed. She also learns that NCAAP is a black association that is trying to advocate colored people’s rights. She becomes 15 and besides her physical attributes, her ideas growing up. She hates whites who are racist, oppressive, killing blacks and blacks who are not defending their rights. She already experienced those kinds of people. For example, Mrs. Burke is a white woman and she is a member of guild that supports racism and white supremacy. She is looking down to Anne and other black people. Anne knows that there is no reason for that. She believes every body should be equal. Whites do not have a thing that blacks do not have. On the other side, her mother was a black. But she is not arguing about her rights. When she is in college, once she works in dinning hall and she knows that dinning hall is very dirt. After a bug appears in meal, she is starting a rebellion. She is organizing the protest. That event shows that Anne is starting to defend their rights. She does not concede the situation. She is looking for her and other friends’ rights. Author also wrote that in college, she meet with a girl called Trotter who is a secretary of the NAACP. She invited Anne to one of their meeting. By this person, Anne gets involved in NAACP. She was waiting to involve in NAACP for a long time. By Trotter, she reaches one of her aim. Then she is attending her first meeting. Her old boy friend Dave is also attending that meeting as a speaker. Dave and other demonstrators are arresting after meeting. But they are bailing around eight thirty that night by NAACP’s helps. They are welcomed with the song “we shall overcome”. That is a meaningful song for all defenders of civil rights. This shows that NAACP is able to prevent their members, they have money and they are getting more powerful. Later on, Anne is meeting with another friend who is also a member of another association called SNCC. She becomes a member of SNCC and looking for voting rights of blacks. Subsequently, she is attending many other civil rights movements. One of them is sit-in protest in Woolworth’s lunch counter. It is purpose is to end segregation of whites and blacks in a restaurant. During the protest, some white high school students are attacking them but Anne and their friends stays calm. They do not attack back. They are supporter of non-violent actions. Afterwards, they are preparing a list of their demands on behalf of Jackson Negroes to present it to Mayor Thompson. But they can not get what they want. In Washington, there is another meeting about civil rights movement. That is a really important meeting but she is disappointed and looses her interest in civil rights movement. She says that “we had ‘dreamers’ instead of leaders leading us” pointing Martin Luther King and asserting that he should focus on peoples lives instead of voting rights or other things(335). She is going back to his uncle’s house. They are welcoming Anne and she is staying there for a while. She rents a house with her sister Adline and their mother is coming for birthday party. She realizes that her family is not very wishful to her. One day she hears death of Kennedy, again she decides to participate in Civil Rights Movement. She is goes to New Orleans to have meeting with CORE. Another experience that is important to her ‘coming of age” can be seen when she goes to the courthouse. She sees there that many teenagers were singing about movement and their power hopefully and faithfully while adults are singing about the god. Despite of some unwillingness, she sees a people with full of desire, ambition and power. In the last chapter of the book “Coming of Age in Mississippi” it is stated that Anne is getting on a bus to go to Washington. In that bus, everybody was singing the song “we shall overcome.” She remembered what happened until now such as Murders, The Taplin burning, the Birmingham church bombing etc. She feels so disappointed and sad but she also says that “I wonder, I really wonder” which represents her willingness, sadness, hope about future (424). In Harvard Sitkoff’s essay he mentioned about economical growth of the America. He emphasized that increasing of wages of all residents including blacks helps them to send their sons and daughter to school. They were getting educated. By changes in economical order, people moved from rural areas to urban areas. People got wealthier and conscious. They became more sensitive about civil rights. Country life, provide them free time which cause people to think about other lives. Many people got in associations such as NAACP. They provide money for associations. Sitkoff also mentioned that many Americans had TVs and watched how African-Americans oppressed learned about their lives. Before 1940s, it was impossible to create a powerful movement about civil rights. There were not enough founds. There were not many people supporting that movement. There was lots of prejudice which obstructed people to know each other. There were no hope and no struggle to change the rules. If a specific example given from Anne Moody’s book, it might be Anne’s mother that is representing a model of closed minded people. She was not thinking about any change and she was favoring segregation. In lighter side Mrs. Burke is an example of that situation. But in new world, it was not possible to have same ideologies between whites and blacks. Beginning with Anne’s birth, it is understood that something should change. Mostly formed and supported by younger people and teenagers, Civil Rights Movement started. As Anne grown up, power of colored people increased. They learned what to do and how to move to get their rights. They were not quiet anymore. They had something to say. They were demanding equality. They were getting louder and louder. David J. Garrow mentioned about that voice in his essay “A leader for his time: Martin Luther King Jr.”[3]. He wrote the story of a leader that is waiting for it’s time. In 1955, a black woman, Mrs. Raymond, refused to give her seat to a white woman. But she was arrested only because of this reason. It gave a start to a movement. NAACP member made a boycott and did not use buses for a while. Many people involved in the non-violent boycott. People started to refuse segregations and discrimination. Garrow also mentioned that they confirm to develop communications between the races. In conclusion, Sitkoff’s thesis explained how new of economical order led Civil Rights Movement in 1940. That was also date of birth of Anne who was a black girl involved in that movement whose story exposing traditional narratives of the Civil Rights Movement from first sight includes colored people’s poverty, living conditions, expectations, ideologies about segregation. Lastly, Garrow essay showed how Martin Luther King, a national leader, drives forward the Civil Rights Movement by organizing, arranging and waiting for right time. 1. Harvard Sitkoff, “Preconditions for Racial Changes”, in Major Problems in American History, Vol. II: Since 1865, eds. Elizabeth Cobs Hoffman and Jon Gjerde (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2002), 358-364. 2. Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi (New York: A Division of Random House, Inc, 1965). 3. David J. Garrow, “A Leader for His Time: Martin Luther King, Jr.”, in Major Problems in American History, Vol. II: Since 1865, eds. Elizabeth Cobs Hoffman and Jon Gjerde (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2002), 364-372.