Those of us, who desire to become teachers, imagine that when they do reach their goal they will have the freedom to teach what they feel appropriate and necessary. However, in the early thirties, in the south, the teachers were told to teach out of a book, which was written by white people. This is not the only defect in the education and how it was administered in those days. We imagine a school to be a secure and safe place and when we first begin school we like to have new books, this was all a dream for the black children in those days. All the children in the novel are affected by racism in education, perhaps some more than others.
In the novel, the black children attend great faith school, and to be honest that is what all the people their have, faith in god to believe that things are going to change and that they may become successful. An example of racism in education is when one sees the condition of the books that the state gives to the Great Faith School. This is where Little Man, being his first day, is extremely excited, as shown by what Cassie narrates to us, ‘face lit in eager excitement.’ As excited, as he may seem, it is very short lived when he realises the condition of books that he is given and what is written on the front cover. The cover of the books shoes that the book is ten years old, and further more it was the belongings of a white pupil when it was new and only when it was in a bad condition was it given to a black pupil. There has to be a limit to the amount of racism a child can take, first to be singled out due the pigment of his skin, then to be given a book which is ten years old, to add to this being called a Nigra is taking it too far.
The fact that all this has happened causes a lot of frustration in the mind of Little Man and he becomes increasingly angry, he says, ‘That one is dirty’, to Miss Crocker when she hands him the book.
The next effect, which I feel is the most important, is the way the back children have to act towards the white children, as if they are inferior. The most prominent effect of this in my mind is between Cassie and Lillian Jean. It starts of by Cassie accidentally bumping into Lillian Jean, she becomes furious and begins to taunt Cassie by comparing Cassie’s ‘nasty little self’ with ‘decent white folk’. Big Ma and Lillian’s father force Cassie to apologise and she is also told to call her Miz Lillian Jean. For one child to call another, of the same age ‘Miz’ is utterly unfair. This again shows how unequal the behaviour has to be between the black and whites. This thought of calling an equal ‘Miz’ hits Cassie badly, she then plans her revenge on Lillian Jean and does so by beating her up and blackmailing her. Another example to show how the black children are told to keep distance with whites is when Jeremy Simms gives Cassie a present, she is not sure whether to take it, she does eventually but her fathers warns her to keep her distance from Jeremy.
To conclude my essay, I can see that racism effects the black people and their children in a major way. Every part of their every day life is affected. I feel that the worst effect is the manner in which the white individuals treat the black children of the novel and their families. Secondly, I feel that the education system is another aspect which, not only causes the blacks hardship but also causes them to under perform. It is due to this that most black children grow up hating the whites more than their parents and pursue revenge on them, thus causing major outbreaks and riots.
