Summers 1 Meggie Summers ENGL 3515 Professor Graham 14 November 2011 Education: Bridging the Gap George Washington

Carver once said, Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom. This belief is shared among many African American mothers in the United States and in childrens literature. Two excellent examples of young adult novels containing a mother that stresses education are Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor and Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Curtis. Both novels take place in the 1930s where blacks were still not considered equal citizens. Many facilities were segregated, and there was a double standard in place for whites and blacks in society. This caused several mothers to teach their children informal lessons about racism, so they were better prepared to deal with it in society. Also, during the 30s education of African Americans was on the rise. Many mothers saw the freedoms that resulted from a formal education and wanted their children to receive these freedoms, so they could help the betterment of the African American race. African American mothers viewed education as a tool of empowerment that gave children the knowledge to deal with racial struggles and achieve racial equality. In all cultures mothers are typically put in charge of overseeing the childrens education. In addition to this African American mothers must prepare their children to face racism. Whites were not very supportive of African Americans owning property, obtaining a higher education, or anything that would provide them with empowerment.

Summers 2 African American mothers recognized this and realized that if their children were not educated they would be taken advantage of. In Roll of Thunder Here My Cry, Mr. Granger is very irritated that an African American family owns the land that used to belong to his family, and he desperately wants it back. Throughout the entire novel we see Mr. Granger trying everything in his power to reclaim the land and he even tries to manipulate contracts. Luckily Papa has had the education to learn how to read and write in order to understand contracts, which is essential to owning property. An ex-Georgia slave stresses this notion of learning by saying, Negroes had to go to school fust and get larnin so they would know how to keep some of them white folks from gittin land way from em (Drago 56). This is why Mama stresses that the children go to school, so they can become educated and not be manipulated out of such an important piece of land to their familys freedom. In Bud, not Buddy, Bud never received formal education but we hear several stories of Buds mother informally educating him before she passed away. She taught him how to read, which significantly helps him survive in the world as an orphan. She also indirectly teaches him lessons of self-pride and not to let others treat him inferiorly. The Logan children also learn many lessons on racism outside of school. Cassie learns a huge lesson on race when Mr. Simms grabs Cassie and throws her into the street. Through these lessons Cassie Logan is growing wiser of the ways of the world, especially the discriminatory world of Mississippi (Cobb 201). However, these lessons only teach children how to deal with racism in society. African American mothers recognize that informal education will not be enough if they hope to change prejudices of southern Whites (Cobb 203).

Summers 3 Most parents hope that their children will achieve more than they did in their lifetime. Many African American mothers in the 30s did not have the opportunity to receive a higher education, so educational attainment was a common goal among African American mothers. In research done on African American mothers goals for their children educational attainment was the most frequently stated goal (Pahlke, Robinson, and Suizzo 306). They realized education was necessary in order for African Americans to get out of service work jobs. It was very evident that if African Americans wanted to gain the respect of Whites in the workforce they needed to obtain these more skilled jobs. In Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry we see Big Ma and Mama pushing the children to receive an education, especially Cassie, because they realize that without an education, Cassie will have few economic alternatives (Cobb 199). African American mothers wanted their children to be the future of their race and be the reason that African Americans achieve equality. The education of their children was so important, that many African American women broke the common notion that once women got married they were to stay at home. According to the 1920s census figures, approximately one-half of the married black female population in Washington D.C., was gainfully employed (Harley 110). They wanted to work so their family would have an extra income that could help send their children to school. Many of the daughters who received an education went into fields that would help the advancement of their race, such as law and education. A very common job among African American women was teaching. I believe they saw the importance of education on their life and how it impacted their race; therefore, they wanted to pass on their knowledge to younger generations. Mary Church wrote in her autobiography, all during my college course I dreamed of the day when I could promote

Summers 4 the welfare of my race (Harley 112). Also, many school systems tried to cover up the horrors of racism of the past and present. Like many teachers Mama often engages in the effort to demystify history for the children. One of the most important ways that she does this is by teaching the history of slavery in her classroom. Through a valiant and subversive act, she teaches her students the brutal reality of history (McDowell 217). African American women believed it was important for their children and younger generations to know about their ancestors past, that way they could prevent these unjust actions from happening again. Freedom is the reason that ties together all the supports for why education is important. I mentioned before that many African American women taught students about their ancestors past. Educating children on their history provides them with more freedom and hope. In Bud, not Buddy Bud discovers that Mr. Calloway is his grandfather causing him to learn more about his mothers past. This causes him to gain a sense of pride in his past and become hopeful for his future. In the final pages of the book he quotes a famous philosophy of his mothers and says, I could tell those were squeaks and squawks of one door closing and another one opening (Curtis 235). As stated earlier, one reason African American women wanted their children to receive an education was so they knew about racism and how to handle it. African American mothers realized that combining this knowledge with the knowledge children received from of a formal education provided the perfect formula for producing an advocate for their race. The children who had this combination of informal and formal education would be the ones to go out and fight for African American rights. They would be the ones who have enough education to make their voices heard and pose a serious threat to the white race. Roll of

Summers 5 Thunder, Hear My Crys main character, Cassie, is a perfect example of this. In Let the Circle Be Unbroken a continuation from Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry we see an educated Cassie get interested in the judicial system and willing to work toward change until all Black people can vote (Cobb 203). Education provides them with more opportunities for success. One man once talked about the effect of education on the African American race saying, schooling places them on a higher planethat is what education is doing for Negros, arousing their ambition (Drago 56). The white race always had the advantage in history because they were superior to us educationally. However, now that African Americans had gained the same educational rights as whites and were achieving many of the same career goals as them that superiority was shrinking. This freedom would not be possible with out the role of the African American mothers who pushed their children to get involved in their education and to rise above the expectations the world has for them. African American mothers realized that education was a major avenue for acquiring first class citizenship (Collier-Thomas 95). Without the education of African Americans the freedom African Americans have today would have never been possible. It is clearly evident that the role of African American women and the education of African Americans have been severely influential in American History and literature. In a majority of African American literature there is almost always a mother figure that seems to have some link to teaching and education. Through reading several African American novels it appears that the African American mother has almost become an archetypal role, symbolizing a strong woman who is always trying to empower her race through the betterment of her children. This conclusion is also very remarkable in terms

Summers 6 of American History. I find it very peculiar that women were seen as inferior in society not to long ago. However, they played a huge role in gaining racial equality for African Americans, even though they knew the direct recipients of this equality and freedom would be granted to men before women. There is no doubt that men could have achieved this goal on their own. Also, the fact that African Americans have been educated for a shorter time period than whites and many of them are at the same level as us socially, economically, and politically, shows that through perseverance and education any race or any individual can achieve their goals and dreams.

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Works Cited Cobb, Cicely D. "If You Give a Nigger an Inch, They Will Take an Ell." Exploring Culturally Diverse Literature (2005): 196-204. Print. Collier-Thomas, Bettye. "The Impact of Black Women in Education: A Historical Overview." Black Women in United States History 1 (1990): 95-102. Print. Curtis, Christopher Paul. Bud, Not Buddy. New York: Delacorte, 1999. Print. Drago, Edmund L. "The Black Household in Doughtery County, Georgia, 1870-1900." The African American Family in the South, 1861-1900 8 (1994): 49-56. Abstract. Print. Harley, Sharon. "For the Good of the Family and Race: Gender, Work,and Domestic Roles in the Black Community, 1880-1930." The African American Family in the South, 1861-1900 8 (1994): 104-17. Abstract. Print. McDowell, Kelly. "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry: A Culturally Specific, Subversive Concept of Child Agency." Children's Literature in Education 33.3 (2002): 21325. SpringerLink. Web. 16 Nov. 2011. Suizzo, Marie-Anne, Courtney Robinson, and Erin Pahlke. "African American Mothers' Socialization Beliefs and Goals With Young Children." Journal of Family Issues 29.3 (2007): 287-316. Sage Journals Online. 7 Nov. 2007. Web. 16 Nov. 2011.Taylor, Mildred D. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. New York: Dial, 1976. Print.