Paper 4: Rough Draft

Coming of Age in Mississippi: Transforming Prejudice
While many historians and academic scholars refer to the period in American history detailed in Anne Moody’s memoir Coming of Age in Mississippi as the Civil Rights Movement, those who actively participated wished it to be known as the Southern Freedom Movement. After nearly two hundred years of slavery in the United States, the abolishment of slavery in the South did not change the face of racial justice overnight. Anne Moody, born Essie May Moody in 1940, grew up in one of the counties hardest hit by racial segregation. Throughout the 19 years detailed in her memoir, Moody’s’ personal experience mirror the cause and values of the Southern Freedom Movement. Through her desire to support her family, Moody is placed in positions of sub-servience to whites. It is not until Moody enters college that she is able to face the prejudices of her past defined by skin color. A recurring theme in Moody’s memoir is prejudice defined by skin color and the absurdity of racial distinctions. Anne Moody uses her experiences and interactions with those who she serves to build sympathy for the belief in racial equality. Moody uses tone to illustrate the differences in the hierarchical structure and to define her role under those that she serves. By introducing the reader to varying situations in which she serves a Caucasian superior, Moody crafts a culture of empathy and moral superiority. By illustrating her strong work ethic and commitment to supporting her family, Moody rises above the racial oppression of the early 20th century Mississippi.
From an early age, Moody recognizes a difference between races as defined by skin color. The readers are first introduced to a Caucasian employer when Moody describes her mothers’ early employer. Moody describes Mrs. Cook favorably, as even though she only paid her $4 week, she allowed her to bring the leftover dinner home to the children. (Moody, pg. 9) This would be a theme throughout the memoir; Moody often measured the perks of positions not in accordance with the money gained, but in the benefits given by employers. Sometimes it would be scraps of food, instructional teaching, or rent at a low-rate. This can be likened to the philosophy of giving disadvantaged people who demonstrate work ethic a hand up, as opposed to a hand out. This ideal is present at the end novel when Moody is distributing clothing. While the residents are more than excited to receive a handout of clothing that they desperately need, they are not willing to take part in the voter registration drive. They are willing to receive the hand out because it is being distributed by one of their own, yet are not willing to step outside their realm of comfort to seek justice. The distinction between races is clearly set by the moods and attitudes of the African American population. They consider themselves as a different culture and therefore wish to remain as their own isolationist unit, helping one another as opposed to seeking outside charity.
As Anne Moody continues her education and progresses to college and her work with Dr. King and the NAACP, she encounters the reoccurring them of disunity among blacks in the face of white oppression. While Moody is committed to securing rights for Africa n Americans and is supportive of the movements’ leaders, she quickly recognizes the differences between what the leaders of the movement believe should happen and what the citizenry is willing to do. While the youth involved in the movement are committed, they are unable to mobilize the general African American population because they fear loosing their jobs and the security they have built amongst the Caucasian population. Moody recognizes the disparities amongst the citizens and the leaders of the Southern Freedom Movement. Fundamentally, the leaders of the movement and the citizenry they are trying to reach are different. While the color of their skin may be the same, their backgrounds differ. Their commitment to education and belief in equality sets them apart from the African American citizens that have only known a life of sharecropping and domestic work. For many, the necessity to provide for ones’ family is considered a greater priority than securing the right to vote. At the end of Chapter 24, Moody concludes, “We had ‘dreamers’ instead of leaders leading us”. (Moody, pg) Moody determines this while listening to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream Speech”. After attending the March on Washington, Moody became more concerned about the progress and goals of the movement. Moody felt that though the color of their skin was the same, the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement were out of touch with the base. This was evident in the leaders goal of securing voting rights for rural African Americans as opposed to poverty relief.
The overarching theme that ties together Moodys’ memoir is the destructive power of prejudice, whether tied to a theme of subservience to an employer or prejudice in an educational setting. The power of prejudice, while inherent in the culture of the South, is a destructive force in Moodys’ life that materializes in the memoir. Present in the memoir is not only the prejudice of whites against blacks, but also the cultural prejudice of lighter skinned blacks towards those with darker skin. This prejudice is not only present in the greater community context, but in Moody’s family. Moody is the product of a dark skinned mother and dark skinned father, but the family becomes blended when Moody’s mother takes up with a lighter skinned man. Moody and her mother are shunned by the light skinned man’s family because of their skin-color gradation. Lighter-skinned blacks are able to carve rout higher social statuses for themselves, despite not having any different legal rights. Skin color is a dividing factor in the African American community, and one that harms the Civil Rights Movement. In some instances it was difficult to create a sense of community because some African Americans identified their race as black, but were able to blend into white culture because of the shade of their skin. This affirms the absurdity of racial distinctions, as they are socially constructed. Anne Moody herself falls prey to this social construction of prejudice, as she fears blending with the light skinned black girls in the college setting. Moody views herself as a lesser human, despite her knowledge, work ethic and educational background. The discontinuity of the civil rights movement as affected by skin color ties to the inclusiveness of the movement. The movement was not inclusive of the African American community as a whole; instead it rallied those that were in a position to support Dr. King and other Civil Rights leaders. In many cases, this limited support to well-educated, light skinned African Americans.
The most constant and evanescent theme in Moody’s memoir is that of prejudice. Whether it is prejudice due to the color of skin, quality of education, or material pocession; Moody spent her young life fighting against the forces of prejudice. While the prejudice of skin color and gradation are inherent in the African American community, Moody also faces the prejudices of the division between those with money and the people who are poorer than her. Anne experiences these prejudices through lack of food and material pocessions, as well as through her interactions with those who employ her. In one situation, Anne is enlisted to work as a tutor for the son of her employer and his classmates. The group becomes quite close, one of the few interactions Anne has where racial lines are blurred. Yet her employer becomes recognizant of the relationship developing between Anne and the students, and curtails the tutoring. Yet though Anne is placed in many situations of prejudices, she is observed as having learned from the situations and growing as a person. It is this personal growth that transcends the prejudice and inspires Anne to go beyond what she knows and deems familiar. Anne grows and matures alongside the Civil Rights movement, the experiences she gains from joining the movement shower her that the same qualities that make a Caucasian person successful can also make an African American person successful, just in different realms. As a young child, Anne discovered that there were no real differences between black and white children, which is the same argument made by Civil Rights leaders. The belief in inherent equality stays with Anne through high school, where she advocates for equal schools for black students, recognizing that the color of skin should not require her to settle for anything less than complete equality.
While Anne Moody devoted much of her college and post-graduate career to fighting for racial justice, the last words of Coming of Age in Mississippi echo her frustrations that stem from the inherent prejudice in Southern culture and the ineptitude of the social leaders at connecting to the citizenry the preached about representing. In stating “I WONDER. I really WONDER”, Moody is questioning her life and her commitment to the Civil Rights Movement. Did the work Moody take part in make a difference in the lives of the people that she had risen above? In a way, by rising above her impoverished, uneducated past, Moody had isolated herself from a racial divide.