Our Strange Birth Summary

The author uses tone and images throughout to compare and contrast the concepts of “black wealth” and a “hard life”. The author combines the use of images with blunt word combinations to make her point; for example, “you always remember things like living in Woodlawn with no inside toilet”. This image evokes the warmth of remembering a special community with the negative, have to use outdoor facilities. Another example of this combination of tone and imagery is “how good the water felt when you got your bath from one of those big tubs that folk in Chicago barbecue in”. Again the author’s positive memory is of feeling fresh after her bath combined with a negative, the fact that it was a barbecue drum.

There was unemployment to a certain degree amongst the black community, as over 10% of black people were unemployed. This could be linked to poverty and poor quality of schooling and education Poverty and the condition of living and housing was a major

The life of African Americans in the 1800 was so harsh and unfair. Their owners would treat them cruelly and made them work long hours. They were not fed and had no sanitation which led to malnutrition and disease. Many young girls also went through sexual abuse and owners wouldn’t even get prosecuted because they were the ones who ruled everything. They separated many families from husbands, wife’s, and children. Those who were not prepared suffered every day because they were not with their families. Many of them never saw their family again.

The setting of a rundown house in a poor neighborhood gives the impression of their struggle to survive as African Americans. The shabbiness of the exterior suggests their low social status. “A relatively recent addition to the house and running its full width, the porch lacks congruence. It is a sturdy porch with a flat roof. One or two chairs of dubious value sit at one end where the kitchen window opens on to the porch. An old fashioned ice box stands silent guard at the opposite end” (Wilson, setting description). While the newly added porch may represent an attempt to

The book “Coming of Age in Mississippi” By Anne Moody is an autobiography and talks about the lifestyle of growing up as a Negro in the rural south during horrid times for blacks. Moody was born on September 15, 1940 and died just last year on February 5, 2015. Moody starts her story from the beginning of child hood living with her mother and siblings. She was a brilliant student and also had the motivation for doing her best, but the barriers that blocked her simply seemed impossible to pass, she was a black female. It is noted that in Centreville, where she lived, 8th grade was the highest education for Negro children (28). Whites on the other hand had much more access to literally everything. It wasn’t until about the age of 7 when Moody played with other white children for the first time, this was how segregated the lives were. When including race Moody’s mother always seemed to hide things from Moody and that’s what sprung her curiosity. Moody was often scolded for asking questions that arose like, why the theaters had white and black sections.

African Americans had little opportunity to better themselves economically. Some laws prohibited them from teaching and from entering certain other businesses and professions. Large numbers of blacks had to take low-paying jobs as farm hands or as servants for white employers. Many others were forced to become sharecroppers or tenant framers. They rented small plots of land and paid the rent with money earned from the crops. Struggling to survive, many ran up huge debts to their white landlords or the town merchants. Fortunately, there were rays of sunshine forcing their way through this cloudy time.

Many ignorant people assume that the living conditions of African Americans during slavery and desegregation were not as harsh as they are made out to be. However, autobiographies of African Americans that were alive during that time prove otherwise. If people continue to believe that African Americans did not live a tough life during slavery and desegregation, America will be covering up its past and directly contributing to the further discrimination of the African American people. Texts such as Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and Iceberg Slim, Pimp: The Story of my Life display how difficult growing up as an African American was during this time by providing insight into the atrocities of slave labor and pimping.

In order to support his opinion, the author uses historical references to the enormous impact of racial inequality on African American lives. Additionally, Desmond names a set of historical data and rates of the poor African Americans in cities to enhance the reader’s understanding of this complex situation. African Americans were also more likely to get the apartment with broken furniture, windows, and other facilities that confirmed the existence of racial inequality (Desmond, 2016, p.249). To reassert his position, Desmond provides offensive statistics that millions of people are evicted from American homes, and most of them are African American (Desmond, 2016, p.293). As a matter of fact, the author proves that housing discrimination based on race is the primary cause of

Life in the south for African Americans was nothing but a new form of slavery. Most African American’s were sharecroppers making little to no money to live while being oppressed by white southerners. Daily life in the south for African American’s was full of insults, rude looks, persecution and discrimination as well as the constant risk of being killed. African American’s in the south hated living there but, felt as if they had no other choice at the time it was the first and only available option for southern slaves after the civil war. African American’s wanted a better life and to be treated as they were told

The mid to early 1900 's were a brutal and troublesome time for African Americans. The constant racial and social discrimination was something they faced and something that continues to plague us today. In Anne Moody 's book, "Coming of Age in Mississippi" she depicts how life was growing up in the south through her eyes. The constant discrimination and abuse that many African American minorities faced was something she grew up with. As she grows up and takes part of many organizations to fight for equality, Moody manages to gather valuable experiences and wonders if the issue of racism is something that will truly be conquered.

The life of African Americans in the 19th and 20th centuries has been a truly storied past. One of the most astonishing aspects of African American life, in this period, is the degree to which it was heterogeneous. The experiences of African Americans differed widely based on geographic location, class, gender, religion, and age. Despite a high degree of variability in the experiences of Blacks in America, if one were to consider the sociopolitical fact that Black people as a group in America were a subordinate caste in dominant society, then it becomes possible to make certain overarching connections. One such connection is the presence of secretive subversive ideologies and actions. The existence of these secretive subversive activities is apparent if one examines the labor tendencies, the folklore, and the outward societal projections of black people. By briefly examining the labor practices of Black women in Atlanta during the latter part of the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries, The Uncle Remus tales, and cultural icon Louis Armstrong, one can deduce that secretive subversive actions and beliefs were an integrated aspect of Black existence during this period.

For far too long, African Americans have been neglected the rights to decent and fair housing. In “In Darkness and Confusion,” William Jones expresses his discontentment with the almost cruel living conditions of the ghettos in Harlem as he stated, “It ain’t a fit place to live, though” (Petry 261). William was especially motivated to move to a better home to protect his wife, Pink’s, ailing health. William and Pink searched high and low for more decent places to live – however, they simply could not afford decent. Though marketed to those with lower than average incomes, the ‘better’ housing for blacks were still deficient and extremely pricy. In

We stay here in the South and are broken, or we run away and leave them alone to look after the children and themselves. So each time a male child is born, they hope he will be the one to change this vicious circle—which he never does.” Grant recognizes that whe is one of the small amount of black man in the South at that day and time that is actually

The immigrants from abroad and the African-Americans both left their homelands of restricted opportunities and sought to find better ones. The African-Americans came without proper clothing and skills, unaware of the future obstacles ahead. Their environment and surroundings were significantly different in the South than the lively cities in the North. Before migrating, the African-Americans lives consisted of mainly working in the fields in the blistering, hot sun, or working as servants or tenants for white property owners; they had never laid eyes upon a building or factory. For the immigrants, coming to urban America was an enormous change as well. They were oblivious to the American culture, American politics and economics, and were unable to read or speak English, in most cases. While settling in the northern cities, there were certain harsh conditions that the African Americans along with the immigrants experienced. They both were forced to live with their families in small, unsanitary living spaces due to the intense persecution and racialization from American outsiders. Families in neighborhoods grouped together, and each family member contributed economically to the family income. To relieve these challenges and harsh conditions, both African-American and immigrant groups were obliged to do certain tasks in the new, metropolitan surrounding.