Short Story : ' The Land Of The Free '

speak but little English, they are branded on the right Shoulder TW in one, one of them is

“Brothers - When the white men first set foot on our grounds, they were hungry; they had no place on to which to spread their blankets, or to

The Antebellum south, or merely the word plantation, conjures images of white, columned manses shaded by ancient oaks bowed beneath the weight of Spanish moss and centuries. Somehow these monuments of Greek revivalist architecture sparkle in their ivory-coated siding, even while the trunks of their aged arboreal neighbors hide under layer upon soggy layer of dense, green lichen. The white house is a reflection of the inhabitants, its cleanliness in the damp, soiled environment standing as a stark reminder of the hegemony governing the lives of those living not in the house, but hidden nearby. L’Abri, the plantation

When, Moody first got to Madison County in Mississippi she was surprised to see that the Black community vastly outnumbers the white community and many Black people in the county owned large plots of land. She was at first under the impression that this would mean there was less poverty than what she saw in her hometown, however she soon learned that land did not directly relate to prosperity. “I just didn’t see how the Negros in Madison County could be so badly off…as Mrs. Chinn explained that night, the federal government controls cotton by giving each state a certain allotment. Each state decides how much each county gets and each county distributes the allotments to the farmers. It always ends up with the white people getting most of the allotments” (313). Though the action of the state, the opportunity for Black farmers to accumulate was non-existent. Economic prosperity would always favor white people because with economic freedom came power and influence, neither of which Black people were allowed to have in the Jim Crow south.

A Negro leader living in Boston, made it quite clear where the laws came from, “it is five times as hard to get a house in a good location in Boston as in Philadelphia, and it is ten times as difficult for a colored mechanic to get work here as in Charleston.” (19) His dilemma exhibited how a Negro man figured life in the South might be superior to the North. He made this statement in 1860. In 1860, the South was pushing through the process of Reconstruction. The Negro leader’s statement shocked those who believed the North was where freedom reigned.

In recent years racial and socioeconomic differences have grown more prevalent in our society, and many wonder why. Growing up in Ethiopia, the concept of race was never popular or significant, as there was little to no racial diversity. Coming from a country where I did not even look at the color of my skin to a place where the only thing people saw was my color, astonished me. Living in the United States and learning about slavery in middle school, I thought of it as something that was long gone, something I would never have to worry about, but as I grew older I began to see the lingering shadows that remained. A petrified twelve-year-old me once asked my mother why we were moving to America and to that question she replied “America is the land of the free; the land of opportunities”. America did feel like an embodiment of her statement my first few years here but as time passed I began to see some clear differences in how society viewed me. I wondered, if this really was the so called “land of the free”, why are minorities incarcerated at a higher rate? And why are there such significant socioeconomic and educational gaps?

“The South confronts one grave moral challenge. It must not exploit the fact of Negro backwardness to preserve the Negro as a servile class… Let the South never permit itself to do this. So long as it is merely asserting the right to impose superior mores for whatever period it takes to affect a genuine cultural equality between the races, and so long as it does so by humane and charitable means, the South is in step with civilization, as is the Congress that permits it to function.” (5)

T.H. Breen’s and Stephen Innes’s book “Myne Owne Ground” did an outstanding job of showing readers the differences in perspectives of African people living in Virginia, one of the thirteen original colonies. It went in depth and showed how an indentured African person was competent and was capable of acquiring a wealth comparable to what a wealthy white person has. However, it would never be recognized by the general white population. There are two main themes in this book, whether the society, which was introduced in this book, was color blind or not. On one hand, the authors made an argument that the African people was able to live normally and be viewed as relatively equal to white if they were rich and owned plenty properties. On the

In Peggy McIntosh’s article, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” McIntosh embarked to uncover the countless advantages whites tend to have over those of color. By doing so, she validated her credibility to the reader by listing her findings along with research and evidence to supplement her claim. After reflecting on the privileges she found, McIntosh stated, “…whiteness protected me from many kinds of hostility, distress, and violence, which I was being subtly trained to visit in turn upon people of color” (McIntosh, 3). This makes it obvious to the reader that McIntosh’s findings are unjust and should be changed. Unfortunately, most white individuals are currently doing nothing to modify these unfair privileges. McIntosh concludes the article by posing

This is a part of the speech delivered by Malcolm X which shows that he wanted the sincere whites to educate other whites to respect the blacks and treat them equally. He thinks not only the government but the society has to change as well. This speech shows and encourages people to use this way to gain equal rights because it would be more effective. This philosophy makes more sense because rather than going

The development of sharecropping was associated with the endless debt cycles that afflicted the entire South well into the twentieth century. The freedmen endured an economic status likened to peonage, (Bowles, 2011) in addition to having their hopes for political and social equality dashed. The entire South suffered, it was the freedmen who paid the highest price. Ignorant and impoverished, they were easy targets for exploitation by landlords (Bowles, 2011) and merchants alike; moreover, their options were limited by the overt racism in the South, legal restrictions and partiality. Sharecropping resulted from the intense explicit or implicit desire of white Southerners to keep blacks subservient to them. African Americans possessed few skills, and those they did possess related almost exclusively to agricultural production; they owned no property but the clothes on their backs; (Bowles, 2011) Many dreamed of "forty acres and a mule" with which to begin life anew as an integrated part of American society and the proprietor of one's own land. Inside of a year, however, a different reality became obvious to most. By 1868, land confiscation and redistribution was not in the realm of American political possibility. Desperation, familiarity with people and surroundings at the old places coupled with reunion of many lost loved ones, as well as the urgings of

Fredrick’s first journey away from the eastern shore was in the Baltimore where he resided for seven years of his young adult life. He wished he was back in the eastern shore as the boys in Baltimore pounced on him teased him about being an eastern shore at every corner. “After all, the home plantation was more desirable place of residence that home on Alliciana Street, Baltimore.” Miss Sopha his “mistress” (his master’s wife) made his stay a little more comfortable on the plantation. She made sure he had a comfortable straw bed with blankets and clean clothes. His job on the plantation was to run errands and to take care of the master’s child. His mistress would read the bible aloud every night while her husband was away. When he husbands came home and found that his slave was reading he then explained to his wife the rules of slavery and told her it was unlawful to do so, in his own word he spoke “If you give a nigger an inch he will take an ell, he should know nothing but the will of his master and learn to obey it. Learning would spoil the best nigger in the world.” Hearing these harsh words spill from no only stirred up a sort of rebellion, but awakened vital thought of how the white

“…I have traveled in this free country for twenty hours without anything to eat; not because I had no money to pay for it, but because I was colored. Other passengers of a lighter hue had breakfast, dinner and supper. In traveling we are thrown in “jim crow” cars, denied the privilege of buying a berth in the sleeping coach. This monster caste stands at the doors of the theatres and skating rinks, locks the doors of the pews in our fashionable churches, closes the mouths of some of the ministers in their pulpits which

“I found us the perfect home!” sang Tru excitedly and guided Blacky and Curly to their very own tree-haven. Both of them were thrilled with the home that Tru found for them. He then chose a leafy branch that was just right to build his nest and flew off to gather the sprigs to build the nest; while Curly rolled around in the grass beneath Tru’s branch and Blacky gobbled up the juicy bits that Curly

Resting underneath the shade of the trees, I found myself appreciating the scent of pine needles; the ambiance of Christmas. Encompassed by the thick heavy air, I watched as a single sparrow fluttered high above the emerald forest. A few feet next to me an eager chipmunk hastily scampered from tree to tree, awaiting the chill of winter. The forest, I realized, was home to many wild creatures. In giving protection and food, the forest was gladly rewarded with the company of these animals. Beyond the horizon, I could see the community of newly formed saplings. They appeared as little children, learning under the guidance of their grown and fully matured parents.