I know why the caged bird sing
Racism is not only around today- racism has been around for a long time. It became a huge issue in the United States when we started to bring slaves over from Africa. The racism grew after the civil war when the blacks were freed from the bondage of slavery. Racism hit a high around the time the "Jim Crow Laws" were passed. Blacks and whites were segregated; each had to use their different sections of public property, and the racism grew stronger and stronger. Maya Angelou lived, around WW II, in Arkansas. In her book I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings she tells of her life, and she tells of the racism that she, as a black female, had to go through in life. In her book we see that racism affects everyone, and someone is always hurt.The white folks in this story are not as kind to Maya as she would like them to be. The whites held themselves superior to blacks, because they were different. The whites even expected the blacks to treat them better than they would treat others. They would make the blacks walk out of their way so that they would not walk by them on the streets, and would make them call them Miss, Mrs., and Mr. Also when Mama took Maya to the dentist the white girl shut the door on her. She waited till doctor
Maya Angelou is a very religious girl. Mama raised her to be a good Christian. Through out the book we see her religious views. For example, we see that she believes that the blacks will be rewarded for their sufferings in heaven. "They were assured that they were going to be the only inhabitant of the that land of milk and honey, except of course a few whitefolks like John Brown who history books said was crazy anyway" (Angelou 120). We see that Maya believes that only the blacks will inherit the kingdom of God with the exception of just a few white folks. We can see why she thinks that only the blacks are going to heaven. Maya was treated poorly all her life because of her color. She was taught to love her neighbor, and when your neighbor does not love you and treats you bad, you don't think that you will see them in heaven. Salvation by works is easier to understand than faith in what Christ did for us. I think that Maya thought that works and action earned salvation instead of what Christ did for us. We don't hear too much about the cross when they talk about being saved. We see more about actions and works that earn us salvation. Lincoln came out. When he finally came out he would not help Maya because she was black. Dr. Lincoln said, "...my policy is I'd rather stick my hand in a dog's mouth than in a nigger's" (Angelou 189). That not fair of the doctor to do that. Maya is a human like everyone else white or black. Both whites and blacks were created equal in the eyes of the Lord, one race is not more important than the other. Maya
Some common words found in the essay are:
Dr Lincoln, Maya Angelou, John Brown, Maya Heroes, Bird Sings, Christ Maya, , Mama Maya, Crow Laws, maya angelou, II Arkansas, blacks whites, white folks, black folks, believes blacks, racism practiced, white black, racism grew,
Approximate Word count = 1058
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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