The Reality Of Racism- As Exhibited In Cry, The Beloved Country

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is a novel based in the Southern States of America in the 1930’s and deals with the theme of Racism amongst other themes. Racism is being prejudice or discriminating against someone of a different race based on such a belief. Following on from the Civil War, America experienced ‘The Great Depression’ and it affected everyone, especially blacks. Mildred Taylor reveals examples of racism and racist behaviour throughout the novel based on her own experiences. In this essay, I will discuss what blacks were subjected to and how racism is presented in this novel.

"Battle Royal" gives the reader a frightening look at just how society looks at blacks. In the

He seeks to imply that judgement of a person should be based more on the content

He wants his readers to imagine the pain and humiliation of the ill treatment that African Americans endure on a daily basis. King writes of vicious mobs lynching people’s mothers and fathers, policemen killing people’s brothers and sisters, a man and his wife not receiving the proper respect they deserve because of their skin color, and the notion that African Americans feel insignificant within their communities; this is why these peaceful demonstrators of whom the clergymen attack “find it difficult to wait” (King, 20). However, King believes that soon, injustice will be exposed, like “a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up” (King, 30). This vivid description helps arouse an emotional response, driving shame into the hearts of his white readers.

The text highlights the changing attitudes through society, shown towards the Aboriginal culture, after life threatening events, bringing these men closer than ever before, “Back in France, back in the mud. Blokes like you shook my hand. We dragged blokes like you through the shit and blood. We saw each other when we were like babies. Like animals.” (wright 71). This text also, I believe, has an inner meaning of morals and mateship as evident in the closing stages of the play, where the stereotypical white soldiers are starting to get along with the archetypal black soldiers, who we follow through the play. Following their ever-changing story for a better future of equality and understanding. This all has an origin, which starts at the very beginning of the play, showing mateship between the Aboriginal men. As the play moves on the bold line separating the two different cultures, ever so slightly becomes fainter until it is just a blur. The inner meaning for this text, I see it as recognition towards difference and what is mismatched between the two cultures and how, this divergence from the normal, is why the black culture, represented as archetypal characters, we follow them through the play as they try to become just another face in the crowd, no different from the white man standing next to

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D Taylor shows the ways that black people dealt with injustice and racism in the South. In this novel, it is very clear how people feel about racism. You can also see the ways in which they react and deal with it. It displays how degradation, humiliation and hatred fill the gap between the white and black races.

In Kiese Laymon “How to Slowly Kill yourselves and others in America” and Brent Staples “Black Men and Public Spaces” both essays deal with being an African American man but the authors respond in a different ways. At one point in history being an African American wasn’t always the easiest but two Authors shared their stories about the experiences they had which were very different. Although the color of their skin is the same and how they treated was as well both authors take different precaution’s to handle the situations they were in to persuade the audience on how to deal with the effects of racism. Both authors show their hidden message through the actions presented throughout the essays. Laymon`s casual tone and will to fight make

In chapter five of the novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor, Cassie experiences the most racism in her life in the town of Strawberry. When Cassie apologizes to Lillian Jean her father demands for Cassie to use Miz when she apologizes to his daughter, and Big Ma tells her to do as such: “Big Ma” I balked “Say It child.” (…) “I’m sorry … M-Miz Lillian Jean.” Taylor 116. This event in Strawberry truly shows Cassie what the white supremacists think of her, not as a human but as a thing that can talk like them, and at the realization of her true rank in this society brings Cassie lower than she has ever been in her entire life. The apology to Lillian Jean overflows Cassie with so much anger, sadness, and shame making this

Ralph Ellison’s short story “Battle Royal,” is set in the deep south during the late 1940’s era. Racial tension in the south has always been exorbitantly high. In the 1940’s keeping segregation is still a priority for half the population in the southern states, slavery may be abolished but the physical act of welcoming African-Americans as “Americans” is far from the minds of many Americans. Ellison’s short story accentuates this idea of racial tension and social standards, between the elites of the town and the very intelligent former high school graduate. The story touches on a sensitive topic that America has yet to realize, and it is that people that are considered to be minorities can be subjected to be oppressed, based on their

Racism is not a factor of the heart, according to Tommie Shelby in “Is Racism in the ‘Heart’?” He writes “the ‘heart’ does not have to be involved in order for an action or institution to be racist” (483). Instead, Shelby argues that racism is based on the effect of a person’s actions on deepening racist institutions or promulgating the oppression of a particular group of people based on their race. The individual intention of a person or the “purity” or his or her heart does not take precedence over the effect of his or her actions. Shelby’s argument is constructed as follows: Individual beliefs can be true or false but not inherently immoral. Therefore, it is not appropriate to morally condemn someone for holding a particular belief.

The time period of the novel created an uncomfortable setting for the prominent black characters in the story.  During the 1960’s, there was a prodigious divide between blacks and whites.  Being set during the time

In Kindred, Octavia Butler uses characters and events to symbolize parts of larger themes of racism and white privilege in the story. Kevin is a symbol of the complicated relationship that white America has with black Americans.

The Explicit Gospel is a true eye opener with life changing implications, a modern day constitution of the Christian faith. This piece of literature adds a valuable Christian perspective with convicting truths that have been overlooked by Christians and many Christian institutions throughout our nation. The principles in this book will compel any American citizen to reevaluate their Christocentric worldview.

Cry, the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton, is the timeless novel about South Africa in the 1940’s. As powerful white men use the land for their own benefit, the tribal system of the African natives is broken down and replaced by poverty, homelessness, fear, and violence. A black priest, Stephen Kumalo, ventures to the great city of Johannesburg in search of his lost sister and son. His journey demonstrates the unhealthy lifestyle and mutinous atmosphere of the black people; yet he is the beholder of forgiveness, love, hope, and the restoration of a country overwhelmed with problems.

In Alan Paton’s novel “Cry, The Beloved Country” there are many characters that go through various conflicts involving their experiences of fate. Stephen Kumalo is one of the major characters that lives a lifestyle of a black man who works as a pastor and father. Another major character is James Jarvis, but he is very different from Kumalo since he lives a lifestyle of a white man who works as a farmer and father. It is believed that the two characters are meant to mirror each other yet live differently due to their difference of race. In Alan Paton’s novel, although there are many characters with multiple amount of differences and similarities, Stephen Kumalo and James Jarvis are two of the characters that stand out the most in this novel.