For the past few days, my class watched and read The Watson 's go to Birmingham. This book/movie is about a young boy named Kenny, with a family of five visiting their grandma in Birmingham, Alabama. Kenny, Joey, and Byron are not used to going down south, they live in Michigan all their life.In this book, Kenny, Joey, and Bryon faced the real world. They know the things that they had to do because of the color of their skin. Like going to the back of the movie theater with a sign saying colored people only. They had to walk up the back off to the highest section of the theater .They were so confused, you can see the look on their faces. This is all taking place in 1963. As we know, 1963 wasn 't a very good year for African American’s
Anywhere you would’ve went during this time period you would’ve seen “Whites only” and “Colored only” signs on just about anything and everything; the signs were displayed on stores,
In the book The Watsons Go To Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis, the protagonist, Byron Watson, a teenager who thinks he is to handsome to be born by his parents, learns to not take everything for granted. Byron was in his hometown, Flint, Michigan, causing lots of trouble; killing a bird with a cookie, lighting fires and the last straw, getting his hair chemically straightened. This caused the whole Watson family to travel to Birmingham, Alabama because they thought their Grandma Sands could straighten Byron out. In Birmingham, he was exposed to the real world of racism whereas in Flint, everyone was the same race. There was violence because they didn't accept different types of people.
In the book Watsons go to Birmingham the story line is a black family of 5 that lives in flint michigan. They are Joetta, Kenny, Byron, Momma, and Dad. They decide to go and visit their grandma sans in Alabama and then Byron has to stay for the summer or even the school year. They don 't know it yet but they are going to be in one of the worst times for blacks in America.
Relationships can change depending on how much a person hangs out with somebody or how someone helped somebody. Kenneth and Byron, two characters in The Watsons go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis, probably went through the exact moment of having a relationship change with a relative. Although Kenny and Byron did not have a good relationship at the beginning, their feelings changed about each other by the end. Kenny and Byron’s relationship in the beginning of the novel was not very nice or brother-like. One example that proves this is, “First thing you gotta worry about is high winds.”
Have you ever heard of the saying the grass isn’t always greener on the other side? In the book ,The Watsons go to Birmingham, this is one of the many themes. The Watsons go to Birmingham, but they realize it isn't as pleasant as they thought it would be. It turns out to be a scorching place of harm and racism.
In Brent Staples “Black Men and Public Space” and “From Parallel Time”, Staples describes the encounters and stereotyping he went through in his life. In each essay he references several events in which complete strangers judged him because of the color of his skin. Although both essays discus how he was discriminated against and stereotyped Staples actions change drastically from one essay to the next. In the first essay by Brent Staples, “Black Men and Public Space” Staples has very passive actions when he encounters strangers on the street.
This was supposed to mark the end of slavery and the beginning of freedom for black people. In no way did this mean equality or even equity between black and white people would exist. The inequity between black and white people didn’t suddenly come to an abrupt ending. White people still had superiority over black people and the law was still in their favor. Not to mention, people were still extremely prejudice.
Most of the shops declared “no entry permission of blacks”. It happened in the American schools too. The schools separated the blacks and whites and the school segregation grew rapidly. In the history of America, racism always existed, even after the set free of slavery. And I think that’s the reason the film is entitled “American History”, as the film was about the racism too.
Have you ever rode in a car for more than 24 hours? The plot in the book of “Watson’s Go To Birmingham”, is about a family going on a trip to Birmingham in 1963 and experience an event that makes them see how wrong color in the south are treated. The plot in the movie is more about how colored had been fighting for their rights and all the event leading up to everyone becoming equal. In “Watson’s Go To Birmingham”, lots of events changed the plot like the movie is focused mainly on Civil Rights while the book isn 't, but Joey leaves the church before it blows up in both, so there are some similarities. There are many differences between the book and the movie, like in the book they all stayed down at Grandma Sands, but in the movie the dad didn’t stay with them.
Their schools and buildings were severely underfunded and not properly maintained. Blacks could not socialize with white people in public or they risked being arrested. “A black male could not offer his hand (to shake hands) with a white male because it
Book Report #4 The book I read this quarter was Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood. Its Lexile level is 680. This book is about a 11-year old girl named Gloriana Hemphill, who now comprehends how much racism is a problem in her hometown in Mississippi in 1963.
An example of how the parents are trying to set up their children's futures for the better is by taking a road trip to a more segregated and discriminatory place to discipline their child that has been frequently acting out. They are taking Byron to Birmingham, Alabama, to show him discipline from his grandma Sands and the mistreatment of African Americans down
African Americans were perceived as slaves and “minorities”, and the rest of society treated them inhumane during the
The poem “Making Sarah Cry” and the play “The Watsons go to Birmingham” have the similar theme of being different. In “Making Sarah Cry” Sarah is different from the other kids on the playground. In “The Watsons go to Birmingham” the Watson family has a different skin color so they are separated from whites to do everyday tasks. The texts, both share a similar theme, but have different qualities. For example, in “Making Sarah Cry” only two people are excluded from playing with kids because of their differences.
The new laws that the government had set in place made lives for black people very difficult at the time. When this law was put in place, the differences between blacks and whites were very clear. Whites got preferential treatment, just for being white whereas blacks had to struggle with daily