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Caged Bird Segregation

1323 Words6 Pages

What really divides a nation? I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings takes place in a southern town in Stamps, Arkansas during the Great Depression. In the South, Jim Crow Laws were intact that legally allowed for the segregation of race. The idea of segregation only further enhances racial hostility and stereotypes. The Great Depression played a huge factor to racial issues. Some employers won't hire Black Americans because of their race and make them work in the field instead. Work was scarce and hostility was high. The book is about a young girl named Marguerite Johnson living in the South with her brother, grandma, and disabled uncle. Marguerite, or Maya, and her brother moved to Arkansas with their Grandma and Uncle because of their …show more content…

When she moved over, Maya started to live in Stamps on the Black side of town. Most Black Americans in Stamps lived on the Black side and the opposite with the Whites. With the new laws implemented in Southern States, people can refuse to serve others based on their skin tone. The Jim Crow Laws affected both Whites and Blacks during that time. Schools received different funding based on what race attends there. People can become despised and threatened for interacting with others from different races. People start to hate one another based on the stereotypes of other’s actions. Blacks think that all Whites are evil based on the actions of radical Whites. Because of racial issues, Jim Crow Laws were implemented and it drastically affected Maya’s life. Maya was denied services due to her race and wasn’t taken seriously in academics until she moved to California where segregation isn’t allowed. Race plays the role of dividing a nation, limiting opportunities, causing unfair treatment, and creating hostility …show more content…

Segregation was legal because the government saw it as a way to keep the peace between two races. Segregation was also legal as long as both races had equal circumstances such as restaurants, living conditions, and trains. Although they were said to have equal things, Blacks received far worse treatment than Whites. White schools were given more funding and were taken more seriously than Black schools. The only doctor and dentist in Stamps were white and refused to serve Blacks, which doesn’t make it fair for the Black population. This quote from the book describes Maya’s visit to a White dentist office. “Annie, my policy is I’d rather stick my hand in a dog’s mouth than in a nigger’s.” The dentist in this quote would rather treat a dog with more respect than someone who was Black. Another quote in this book describes the unfair treatment Marguerite’s grandmother was given because she was Black. “The girls had tired of mocking Momma and turned to other means of agitation. One crossed her eyes, stuck her thumbs in both sides of her mouth and said, “Look here, Annie.”” In this quote from the book, several poor white children came to her Store to mock and act as they were better than her because she was Black. Race in this book gave Black Americans unfair treatment just because of the color of their

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