The author clearly shows family life for the Logan’s is sometimes very stressful, but nevertheless they consider themselves lucky for the little they have, such as their land. They are portrayed as a strong, but happy family. Mildred D.Taylor is again very successful in showing this by conveying to the reader, the happy and thankful times that the family has despite the adverse conditions that they have against them. For example, Mr Granger who is constantly trying to take their land from them.
Education was important to the Logan’s, and Mildred Taylor emphasises this, because Mama repeatedly tells the children to get themselves a good education. “As long as you get yourselves a good education.” However, the schools that they attend are not good because of a number of reasons. For example, segregated schools: black people go to one school and white people go to another school. The schools attended by black children though, are not as good as those used by their white contemporaries. The black children do not have as good school facilities as the white children. They have dirty old books, which have been used by white children first. Only when they are out of date and dirty, are they given to the black children: “The covers of the books, a motley red, were badly worn and that the grey edges of the pages had been marred by pencils, crayons, and ink.” The classes are very large in the black children’s school, but are much smaller in the white children’s school whom receive a better education. Also the white children’s school year starts at a different time to that of the black children’s, because the black children have to pick cotton from the cotton fields, to pay taxes to Mr Granger and the other landowners. By contrast, the white children do not have to do this because they are not sharecroppers and do not have to pay as many taxes. The black children miss several months of schooling because they need to collect almost every last bit of cotton, so they can get enough money to pay their taxes: “A number of older students would not be seen again for a month or two, not until the last puff of cotton had been gleaned from the fields, and eventually most would drop out of school altogether.” This illustrates the hardship facing black children and shows the state does not care about their education. Other students also realise the importance of education. For example, one of Stacey’s friends who lives on the Montier plantation, takes 6 hours to walk to and from school, showing his determination.
The incident in which Mama was unfairly sacked for teaching about the cruelty of slavery during a history lesson, reinforces the injustice faced by black people and successfully depicts how much power and influence white people like Harlan Granger possessed in the 1930’s.
“I don’t see all them things you’re teaching in here.”
“That’s because they’re not in there,” Mama said.
“Well, if it ain’t in here, then you got no right teaching it,” replied Granger.
The head teacher also does what Mr Granger tells him to do and there is no union to protect Mrs Logan’s rights. This effectively demonstrates that black people were considered not to have basic rights and possessed little authority. Another way in which this is shown is when Mr Morrison lost his job, because he got into a fight through no fault of his own, with some white men. Although it was not his fault, he nevertheless was dismissed because they were white and he was black: “The other men didn’t get fired. They was white.” Again this shows clearly the ruthlessness shown by some white people and the lack of fundamental rights of black people.
The Logan’s historical background like so many black people in the Mississippi included slavery and breeded stock. Black people in the 1930’s lacked economic power because of the sharecropping system. Sharecroppers are very poor and they work for the landowners for virtually nothing and are always in debt. For example, Harlan Granger, exploits them and takes their pay from them. “The price of cotton is mighty low. Could be that I’ll have to charge my people more of their crops next summer just to make ends meet. If I did it, my people wouldn’t hardly have enough to buy winter stores, let alone be able to pay their debts….” Their landowners exploit and control them and Mildred D.Taylor reinforces this aspect of sharecropping because it clearly shows the reader that these people were kept down by debt and because of the colour of their skin. It is very evident that in the1930's the white people had complete authority and control over the black population.
The Logan family unlike the sharecroppers, have a little more money and have their own land. This land is of great importance because it means the Logan family are not part of the sharecropping system. They do not live on credit and they do not need to go to the Wallace store, which is owned by white people who control black people by debt. This means that they have more economic power and wealth than the sharecroppers. “You were born blessed, boy, with land of your own.” By contrast most of the sharecroppers live on credit, never have any spare cash, are threatened, and have no choice but to go to the Wallace store. Another part of the Logan’s historical background is the story telling tradition, which is carried on through the generations of the family. “Papa Luke and Mama Rachel were born right here in Mississippi. But their grandparents were born in Africa. The people who needed slaves to work in their fields and the people who were making money bringing slaves from Africa preached that black people weren’t really people like white people were, so slavery was all right.” The parents tell the children of their adventures and black slave history, and then the children tell their children and the stories and history is passed down, generation by generation.
Mildred D.Taylor reinforces the realism of Cassie’s story very successfully, by showing that some black people are not always good, for example T.J. who stole a pearl-handled pistol from the Barnett’s store, whilst other black people have negative attitudes. Miss Crocker’s attitude to white people is for example subservient. She takes the view that white people have authority and black people cannot do anything about it, so they should just follow the rules and do what ever they are told irrespective of whether it is right or wrong. Also she considers the black children at her school to be fortunate and they should be grateful to get anything from white people (such as discarded school books). “Well I just think your just spoiling those children, Mary. They’ve got to learn how things are sometime.” I think Miss Crocker takes the view that white people will always have authority and there is nothing black people can do to change the situation, so they may as well just follow their rules. Mildred D. Taylor shows the reader throughout the book that Miss Crocker’s attitude and view is common to many black people, and the author successfully shows this by describing numerous incidents. For example, Mr Avery with his order list for goods for Vicksburg. “It’s-that list I come ‘bout, David…I don’t want them things no more.” Mr Avery retracts his list for Vicksburg because he is frightened of the Wallaces, but also because he realises that going to Vicksburg will not hurt the Wallaces business, so he sees no point going very far for only a little number of goods, therefore he gives up. This is a similar attitude to Miss Crocker. Also Mr Granger who backs the Wallace store says to Mr Avery that he will increase their taxes on cotton to 60%, instead of the usual price of 50%, and Mr Avery cannot afford to pay this increase. This highlights the vulnerability of Mr Avery and the total control Granger has over him. The author further adds to the authenticity of Cassie’s account of life in the 1930’s, by showing that although the actions of the great majority of white people are unjust and indefensible, there are nevertheless some who are not prejudiced. A good example of such a person is Mr Jamison who stands up for T.J.’s rights and the Logan’s rights to go shopping in Vicksburg. “I hope they do succeed in beating the Wallace’s business. I truly hope so.”
In the Southern States there was a lot of biased laws, which were linked with racist violence and racial injustice. For example Mr Morrisson’s family, who were killed by the ‘night men’ for no reason. “But my daddy didn’t hardly have time to finish hearing them boys’ story when them devilish night men swept down-.” Mr Morrisson’s family decided to stand up for two black boy’s rights after they had been accused of a serious crime, and for this they were brutally murdered. Another clear example of the type of racist violence, which was endured by black people, was the tarring and feathering of a character called Sam Tatum, because he accused a white man of carrying out a crime. “Poured the blackest tar they could find all over him, then plastered him with chicken feathers.” Racist violence and the mob rule is also illustrated when T.J. and the Avery family were dragged from their home and brutally kicked and beaten several times and almost lynched before Mr Jamison could stop them. “Kaleb Wallace pulled his leg back and kicked T.J.’s swollen stomach with such a force that T.J. emitted a cry of awful pain and fell prone upon the ground.” The ‘night men’ did this because of a false accusation made by R.W. and Melvin Simms, and as a result T.J. goes into the chain gang. These incidents of white mob rule are not challenged by those in authority because the perpetrators are white people. Mildred D.Taylor successfully shows the power possessed by white people and conveys the terrible racist violence that black people had to bare in the South at that time.
There are many other incidents in the book, which are linked with racist violence. Most notable of these portrays racist violence against the child Cassie. Cassie was thrown into the road by Mr Simms (Lillian Jean’s father) in the Strawberry market, because Cassie and Lillian Jean accidentally bumped into each other. Cassie apologised to Lillian even though neither were to blame, but Lillian did not think the apology was good enough, so she told Cassie to get down into the road and apologise. “That ain’t enough. Get down in the road. Maybe that way you won’t be bumping into decent white folks with your little nasty self.” Cassie refused because she had already apologised to Lillian Jean and would not get down into the road just to allow Lillian to enjoy the power she had over her. So, Cassie was thrown into the road by Mr Simms and was forced to apologise by Mr Simms and Big Ma who was present at the scene. “Go on, child…apologize.” Mildred D.Taylor demonstrates here effectively the racial injustice against an innocent black child. The incident again also shows the power white people had over black people. The author also shows clearly that white people make black people suffer for the most petty things so as to experience the power they have over them. The black people can go to no one to obtain justice. The few white people, who are in positions of authority and are not racist, just do not bother or care about the black people’s welfare, and this includes the sheriff. The incident with the two men, John Henry and Beacon who were accused by the ‘night men’ of flirting with a black girl called Sallie Ann, illustrates this. “That’s the nigger Sallie Ann said was flirtin with her.” This incident effectively demonstrates, that the sheriff ‘Hank’ did not care about the fact that the ‘night men’ came and dragged both of her friends, John Henry and Beacon, out of their house and when someone called Mr Berry tried to stop them, they set him and the two other men on fire. Henrietta, who was the sister of Mr Berry, reported the incident to the sheriff, but he just called her a liar and sent her home. Mildred D.Taylor here conveys the disturbing attitude and lack of care that the white people, who were not openly racist, had for black people in the Mississippi region in the 1930’s.
In the book, Mildred D.Taylor shows the many acts of resistance that the Logan family used to try and stop the white people from threatening and hurting them. For example, the Logan family persuaded many other families’s to shop in Vicksburg where the owner is not racist, unlike the owner of the Wallace store, Kaleb Wallace. The Logan family also wants the other family’s to shop in Vicksburg and boycott the Wallace store to damage their business. This act of defiance is not just in reprisal for all the bad things that the Wallaces have done to innocent black people, but also to try and get the sharecropping families off credit and out of the cycle of debt. The Logan’s also want their children to see that they tried to help people out of the cycle of debt and to resist the white people’s economic exploitation of black people by taking the only money the sharecroppers get from them, leaving them with nothing to feed their family. So, the sharecroppers then are forced to accept credit, and this is how they get into the cycle of debt from which they cannot break free. The Logan’s shopping in Vicksburg fails because they lose support from the other families, because Mr Granger who backs the Wallace store put the family’s tax rate up. “It’s-it’s that list I come ‘bout, David…I don’t want them things no more.” Also they are threatened by the Wallace’s, that if they make any trouble, they will be beaten up and possibly even be hung. So the boycott of the Wallace store failed. Mildred D.Taylor conveys the dreadful experience of being black here very well, and successfully shows the intractable struggles that the sharecroppers have to get themselves out of the cycle of debt. The author shows the difficulties the Logan’s have in trying to help the sharecroppers overcome their problems and to stop this exploitation.
Mildred D.Taylor convincingly shows the repeated intimidation and threats that black people had to endure at this time. For example, the Logan family are threatened by Harlan Granger, because he tells them that he backs the Wallace store and if the Logan’s boycott the Wallaces bussiness then he will loose money. He therefore threatens the Logan’s by saying to them that if they don’t stop shopping at Vicksburg and stop buying things for the sharecropping family’s then he will take their only form of wealth from them, their land. “But y’all keep on playing Santa Claus and I’m gonna get it back-real easy. You ready to lose your land, David, because of this thing?” The author shows this is a very serious threat because land is the Logan’s only means of retaining some form of economic independence.
In conclusion I think Mildred D.Taylor successfully conveys the experience of being black in the Mississippi during the 1930’s. She reveals to the reader the daily distress of coping with extreme poverty, racism and injustice. She is particularly effective in describing the mental torment and violence meted out to black people at this time. The fact that the book is written from a child’s perspective takes the reader to a different dimension in that some black people in authority over the child seek to justify the unfairness of a white racist society when there is no moral justification for doing so. By acting in this way they inadvertently become part of the unjust system and act as submissive role models for children. By contrast, some black people provide very positive role models and show that in all people there is a thirst for justice.
