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THE BASICS In Maya Angelou s book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, she reflected on the various societies she had grown up in. Though she mostly grew up in Stamps, Arkansas, she had a short stay in St. Louis, Missouri, and later moved to San Francisco, California. In each of these locations she had noted the indifference which blacks were treated by the white communities.
The theme of Maya Angelou s, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, demonstrates the prevalence of racism against Blacks in the 1930 s through ill treatment and segregation of blacks by the whites. It began with the ill treatment of blacks, which lead to the segregation of them and was evident in the several communities. Disrespectful treatment of the black people by the white communities came in many forms and was prevalent in different towns. Also, Marguerite found this division evident even when she had moved to a distant city. Early examples of the ill treatment noticed by Marguerite began in Stamps from the discourteous displays of the powhitetrash children calling Marguerite s Momma and Uncle simply by their first names (27).
Of course these powhitetrash children had learned their bad manners from the white adults of their community who also addressed the blacks by their first names. A second example came from a judge who had subpoenaed Momma to appear in court. Stewart 2 The judge had addressed Momma as, Mrs. Henderson, which was considered, a gaffe calling a Negro woman Mrs. , and the judge, the bailiff, and other whites in the audience laughed (47). Another instance came from a white dentist, who Momma during hard-times had lent money to. In blinding pain, towel around my jaw, and swollen face, Marguerite was in desperate need of the white dentists services (181 / 183).
He not only left Momma and Marguerite to wait in the hot sun for over an hour, he had addressed Momma by her first name (183). Then the white dentist rudely and cruelly declined to assisted them by stating, Annie, my policy is I d rather stick my hand in a dog s mouth than a nigger s (184). When Marguerite had moved to San Francisco the indecorous behavior of the whites continued. She was one of three black students transferred to George Washington High School, an all white school. There she discovered that most of the teachers either, went out of their way to nice to me to be a liberal with me- and others ignored me completely (210).
When Marguerite decided to seek employment on the streetcars of San Francisco she suffered through a three-week battle of censorship (258 - 62). Marguerite succeeded in obtaining the conductor ette position on the trolleys where she was once again was exposed to the amoral acts of the whites. Her work schedule had become, split so haphazardly that it was easy to believe that my superiors had chosen them maliciously (263). Stewart 3 The segregation of black people from the white communities was evidence of their maltreatment.
The separation dictated where Marguerite lived in a community and where she went to school. Also, Marguerite found this division evident even when she had moved to a distant city. The division began for Maya in Stamps, Arkansas where, the segregation was so complete that Black children didn t really, absolutely know what whites looked like, and that the white area of town was referred to as, whitefolksville (24 / 23). In Stamps she went to the Layfaytte County Training School with the other black children in the community. Even though Marguerite had a short stay in St. Louis, Missouri she had noted that she resided in, the Negro section, of town (59).
Later, when Marguerite had moved to San Francisco, to be with her mother, they lived in the, Fillmore District, a traditionally black sector centrally located in San Francisco (205). She also initially attended an institution for girls with others from the minority class (208). Angelo had spent her formative year shuttling between different communities, yet her experiences of contempt from the white sector seem to mirror that of the last. In conclusion Maya Angelou superbly and clearly made her point concerning the discrimination against blacks during the 1930 s.
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Research essay sample on Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou S
