Imagine a life where hate is the norm. Picture a world where murder and violence are acceptable. Visualize death and danger. This was the way of life for Blacks in the 1950's. African-Americans were constantly and continually brutalized by whites. They had to deal with racial epithets, harsh brutality, and the constant threat of angered whites. Growing up in that day and age was extremely difficult for Black youth. They were basically robbed of their childhood because they were too busy living in a life of terror and threats to be capable of carrying on a normal life.
Many children today, and in have a hard time identifying who they are at a young age. One work of literature that portrays this is a children's book called Amazing Grace. Grace is a little, headstrong African-American girl whose dream is to play the lead role in her class production of Peter Pan. After trying out for the part, however, she is discouraged by many of her classmates to take the part because she is a black female trying to play the part of a white male. Having been so young and never being faced with the issue of race or gender, the incident left Grace sad and confused. She didn't see anything wrong with her trying to play Peter Pan. To her he was just a character who could easily be portrayed or represented by anyone. Race or gender had never served as a barrier for Grace before.
Her issue can relate to Black youth in the 1950's because they are growing up in an era of legal white supremacy. Their parents and those before them are used to being shut down. They are accustomed to the oppression and constant segregation. After years of "yessir" and "no sir" rolling off their tounges, they have no idea how to adapt to a new way of life. The youth of that time was confused with the way of life. How is it that the government could sit back and allow such crimes to take place? Many youths who were from other parts faced that hardship too. Fourteen year old Emmet Till moved to Mississippi from Chicago, two almost completely seperate worlds. In Chicago, Blacks weren't treated badly in Chicago
Emmett Till
Murdered at 14 years old in Money, Mississippi. The spectacle surrounding Till's murder was one of the precipitating events leading to the Civil Rights Movement.
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Fourteen year old Emmett Till moved to Mississippi from Chicago, two almost completely seperate worlds. Up North in Chicago, Blacks were actually treated humanely. Down South, however, was a whole other story. Lynchings were still rampant, and the terror group, the Klu Klux Klan (KKK) had a nasty habit of bombing homes and leaving big burning crosses around. Blacks, men especially, were brutally punished for the simplest things such as forgetting to say "Yes sir" to a white man or for looking at a white woman. Emmett made the innnocent mistake of whistling to a white woman, influencing her husband and brother-in-law to brutally murder him. He was so beaten so severely, his face was practically unrecognizeable. Although his was one of the few reported cases of violence, it was knowledge to many that there were many more victims of white supremacy.
Growing up today is much less of a challenge than it was during the civil rights movement for youth, not just black, but also whites. Those who supported the civil rights movement were considered traitors and fools.
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