How does Taylor Present a Picture of Racial Discrimination in the Southern States to the reader?

Racial discrimination plays a big part in ‘Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry’ and I think Mildred Taylor gets this across very well.

Mildred Taylor wrote this because she wanted to inform everyone what racial discrimination was like for the Black people in Mississippi in the 1930’s. She was able to do this because she was brought up in Mississippi hearing stories from her father about how the Blacks fought for freedom. I think she used the characters her father told her about in his stories, and this why it sounds so real.

In the book racial discrimination is shown through the eyes of Cassie Logan, so we have a first person narrative of a child from a black family. Her family unlike many other black families in the area has independence (they own their own land, they are not sharecroppers.)Writing through the eyes of a child shows two main things: -

Firstly, that we see Cassie growing up, so as she grows up and learns about the history of racial discrimination in the area, so do we. In Ch6 on pages 97 and 98 Mama explains to Cassie the history of slavery and what the white think of them. Cassie takes this on board and her character changes slowly after this (see paragraph 6.)

Secondly, that racial discrimination affects everyone, even the innocent. This is portrayed in Strawberry in the shop and sidewalk scene. Where Cassie speaks her mind about how she is being treated and then pays the price of being man handled by Mr Simms, for not really having done anything. This makes us feel really sympathetic towards her. This also makes us oppose most of the whites in the story even though we are white ourselves.

Cassie coming from a non-sharecropper family is important because non-sharecropper families were much better off than sharecropper families, as sharecropper families had to give 50% to the landowner. Papa working away on the Railroad, just to pay the mortgage on the land gives us a good idea of how badly off the sharecroppers must be. Mama and Papa are constantly reminding Cassie of how well off they are and telling her that times are hard.

Another important reason the book is through the eyes of Cassie Logan is that her parents are non-defeatists. This attitude is taken on by Cassie and so in turn is taken on by the reader. A good example of this would be when Cassie asks her father are they going to give up, on page 153 and he replies " ‘cause we’re like it. We keep doing what we gotta, and we don’t give up. We can’t."

Mildred Taylor shows how the blacks react in different ways to racial discrimination.

• The first way is Papa and Mama’s way, which is to not give in. They live good moral lives and find peaceful ways to resist and protest against racial discrimination. By protesting and resisting in a peaceful way this gains our respect and this is another reason why the book is through the eyes of Cassie. A good example of this is when Harlan Granger offers to buy their land.

• Uncle Hammer’s reaction is to resort to violence and go start a fight with the blacks. He is hot-headed. When he rushes out to get revenge on Mr Simms because of the way he treated Cassie in Strawberry, is a good example of this.

• Mr Morrison is cool-headed and always thinks about what he wants to do before doing it. This is probably because he knows the extent of what the white men can do, as the night men killed his entire family. (See next paragraph)

In this book you can see Cassie growing up, from being hot-headed like Uncle Hammer to being cool-headed like Mr Morrison, but still maintaining her parent’s ‘don’t give in’ attitude.

Racist attacks also play a big part in this book. Examples of the racist attacks are the Berrys being burned, Sam Taturn, T.J and the most graphic of all Mr Morrison’s account. These illustartions of racist attacks reflect the lack of justice. The whole book is based around the idea of discrimination, which is underpinned by the issue of right and wrong. These attacks are wrong.

• The Berrys story is not very detailed but we see the effects on Mr Berry when the Logans went and visited the Berrys. Cassie tells us that he grunts instead of talking and describes him as having no nose, no hairon his head and his skin is scarred and burnt. This graphic description on page 75, I think is very alarming and almost distressing. I think this is what Mildred Taylor tried to achieve, to make sure the reader knows the effects of racism quite early on. This is so that the reader understands the fear going through Papa and Mama and why they always try to stay on the ‘safe’ side and lets the whites push them around.

• Sam Taturns is tarred and feathered for calling Mr Barnett a liar. Sam Taturn being black just pushed a white a bit too far and then paid the price. This shows that whatever the blacks accused the whites of being, however small the word was they paid the price.

• Mr Morrison’s account is extremely graphic. This is about how the night men killed his entire family and how he only just escaped being killed himself. This account on pages is even more shocking than the Berrys account. This explains his feelings and how reacts. A good example of this would be when he goes and stops Uncle Hammer from beating up a Mr Simms. I think he feels that you must fight for freedom, but in peaceful way because otherwise you will end up like his family, dead. On the other hand occasionally he reacted in a different way when he punched a white man and then got sacked for it. This was probably he had nothing to lose at this time (no family), but when he stopped Hammer he stopped him because he knew the consciences might result in Cassie and the rest the family getting killed.

We are shown how some black people (excluding Mama and Papa) want to be like the whites, rather than better, like Uncle Hammer and T.J. Avery. Uncle Hammer buys a car like Harlan Granger’s and T.J. hangs round with Melvin and R.W.

There are many illustrations of how racial discrimination is practised in Cassie’s community such as the different school. The whites have buses to school and new books, the blacks have to walk to school and have the whites tatty old books. This makes you feel sorry for the blacks and angry towards the whites, even if you are white yourself. This is another example of how easily the innocent are affected by racial discrimination.

Mildred Taylor also shows that not all the whites are racists. Like Mr Jamieson and Jeremy. They are the voices of reason.

• On page 122 Mr Jamieson says that he will back their credit at Vicksburg and says "I’m a southerner, born and bred, but it doesn’t mean I approve of all that goes on here, and there are a lot of white people who feel the same." Uncle Hammer asks why they don’t do anything then. Mr Jamieson replies that there aren’t enough of them willing to speak out. This shows that Mr Jamieson cares and not all whites are racists.

• Jeremy is a white boy who prefers to walk to school with the Logan children rather than catch the bus with the other white children. On Christmas Day he goes around to the Logans house to give Stacey a wooden flute, which he made himself. After he has gone Stacey talks to Papa about the present and Papa says "Now you could be right ‘bout Jeremy making a much finer friend than T.J. ever will be. The trouble is, down here in Mississippi, it costs too much to find out . . . So I think you’d better not try." This shows how hard it was for white and black children to mix, and I think this part of the story was very sad. This again shows how easily the innocent become victims.

Moreover, it is evident that when children live in an area where there is racial discrimination, the group of children who are discriminated against have to grow up quickly. As when Papa says to Mama, "A boy get as big as Stacey down here and he’s near a man. He’s gotta know a man’s things. He gotta know how to handle himself." (page 154) This makes you sympathise with Stacey.

Mildred Taylor shows what power the whites have and how they use it against the blacks. This is shown when on page 151 Mr Lanier and Mr Avery tell David Logan (Papa) that they don’t want to get their goods from Vicksburg any more because Harlan Granger has put the percentage of cotton up to 60%. This shows how powerless the blacks are. This is another example why the story is through the eyes of Cassie (because her parents are non-sharecroppers so they can fight for freedom without being blackmailed.)

I enjoyed this book and I especially enjoyed this because of the racial discrimination element of it. I enjoyed being put into Cassie’s character and found that I wanted to read all the time, to see if their fight for freedom was successful or not. Mildred Taylor presented racial discrimination through a fight for freedom, which made it all the more exciting.