The Ethics of Living Jim Crow opened my eyes to a whole new view of the racism against African Americans in the US. I had never heard of "Jim Crow" before and when I looked it up, I was surprised to find out that it was not a person but a set of unreasonable laws that separated the white and black people of America. It set up a system that classified the white Americans to be first class and the African Americans to be second. Some churches would even teach their followers that white people were the chosen ones, and African Americans were placed on this earth to be servants. After learning more about Jim Crow laws, it gave me a better appreciation of all the struggles Richard went through and how he handled them.
In school we learn so much about Civil Rights and all the terrible treatment African Americans endured over the years, but we never always get the straight facts from an African American who experienced it. Having this autobiographical sketch told in first person, I was able to see a different take on all the chaos and cruelty that occurred during the Jim Crow laws era. Though all the stories that Richard told were very extreme, one stood out in particular. The story where Richard got a flat tire on his bike and a white man offered him a ride. I was excited to read that a white man was finally reaching out and helping Richard, but of course it was too good to be true. The fact that white Americans cared so little about what happened to African Americans bothered me so much. I noticed how each little story shared the theme of being reserved and trying to blend in and never stand out. Richard pre-thought each move to make sure he wouldn't be intruding with the white Americans. He also made sure to know his limits when it came to approaching people or even riding his bike at night. He was always walking on egg shells and needed to be ready to react in the proper way even if it was the fairest.
Today, I think that the Jim Crow laws no longer exist, but there are still struggles that African Americans go through each day. Rather than physically being abused during the Jim Crow era, I think they are mentally abused today. For example, whether joking or not the n-word is still used today in high school even if it is in a joking way. Even though laws have been set, I still see a separation between the two races. Hopefully, this will continue to improve in the future, but I definitely think we need to keep progressing towards full equality.
Today racism does still exist, but at a much smaller degree. "Today, I think that the Jim Crow laws no longer exist, but there are still struggles that African Americans go through each day." I completely agreed with how you thought that still African Americans were treated differently, but not as poorly as they were during the Civil Rights era. Connecting what we learned in school to your writing helped support your stand with how racism occurred. Things have definitely improved from then, but some are intolerant to mental abuse. I also think that it will progress to be even better in the future.
ReplyDeleteHope your summer has been great so far Gabbie! I definitely agree with you when you said, "I was able to see a different take on all the chaos and cruelty that occurred during the Jim Crow laws era." It is a lot different hearing it from the first person perspective and I'm really glad that this essay was because it helped to give me a better idea of what African Americans were going through. It's one thing to hear the facts and another to actually be able to experience it alongside them. It would be even more eye opening to have lived during that time, but since that's out of the question, I think reading this article was a great start.
ReplyDeleteIt is completely true that African Americans at the time were, as you said, walking on egg shells. Every move they made was calculated to avoid conflict with white men. I agree with you about seeing a different point of view on this topic from reading this essay. Obviously we have no first hand accounts of the everyday horrors people like Richard faced, so reading this gave us more insight to the everyday horrors people like Richard faced. Also, I love how you mention struggles African American's still face. Racism does still exist today, not in as severe a form, but is still prevalent and, like you mentioned, causes separations between races.
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