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.
I picked this quote because it showed that Richard was a bit lazy. To grow something it takes paitence and kindness. It showed that they never put any effort into it. And that was also portrayed in Richard throughout the whole story.
Perhaps... But i think it can also portray a lack of drive or dedication to something, or even a lack of progress or growth. if nothing green ever grew, thst means no one was there to nurture or tend to it.
it shows the poverty in that place but it can also be used as a metaphor... how? well sometimes if one doesnt use their mind then they dont progress. they tend to stay in the contition that they have been living because "nothing green ever grew in that yard" u need to water seeds or something for grass to grow much like a person is supposed to be induced to think for themselves. nothing will grow where nothing has been implanted or worked on
was richard really lazy? or was the quote symbolic of the socioeconomic differences between whites and blacks at that time? remember, richard says later that the trees, the hedges, and the lawns became an "overreaching symbol of fear" for him. that fear is directly associated with his fear/hatred of white people, and everything that they had that he didn't because of his color, including green, growing things.
i could be wrong, but it seems that it would be very difficult to grow anything in a yard of cinders. but those were the only types of places where black people were allowed to live at that time, if they didn't live as sharecroppers on farmland. i'm not saying that you're wrong on this, but it's something else to think about...
This blog is for the participants of the 2007 Vassar-SEO Program on the Civil Rights Movement. Post all thoughts and responses to the work we read or view here. Click on the links below for blogs from last year Enjoy!
Monday, July 30: Theory and Practice of Jim Crow 9-10:45 am: *Richard Wright, "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow: An Autobiographical Sketch" (1937), preface to Uncle Tom's Children: Five Long Stories (NY: Harper and Brothers, 1938), ix-xxx. *Ernest J. Gaines, "The Sky is Gray" (1968), chap. in Bloodline (NY: Norton, 1976), 83-117.
2-3:30 pm: Watch The Road to Brown (California Newsreel, 1990), 58 minutes.
Tuesday, July 31: Legal Strategizing: Brown v. Board of Education, 1954-1955 9-10:45 am: Civil Rights Reader, 61-96.
2-3:30 pm: Watch The Murder of Emmett Till (Firelight Media, 2003), 60 minutes.
Wednesday, August 1: The Death of Emmett Till, 1955 and Southern Lives Under Segregation 9-11:30 am: Civil Rights Reader, 35-60.
* Watch The Boondocks, "Return of the King" (Sony Pictures, 2006)
Thursday, August 2: Malcolm X and His Leagacy 9-10:45 am: *Malcolm X with Alex Haley, excerpt from The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965), in Crossing the Danger Water: Three Hundred Years of African-American Writing, ed. Deirdre Mullane (NY: Anchor, 1993), 660-669. Civil Rights Reader, 244-262.
2-3:30 pm: Watch clip of Spike Lee's Malcolm X (Warner Brothers, 1992), 210 minutes.
Friday, August 3: Mississippi Freedom Summer and Inter-Racial Activism 9-10:45 am: Civil Rights Reader, 166-186.
2-3:30 pm: Watch clip of Freedom on My Mind (California Newsreel, 1994), 110 minutes.
7 comments:
I picked this quote because it showed that Richard was a bit lazy. To grow something it takes paitence and kindness. It showed that they never put any effort into it. And that was also portrayed in Richard throughout the whole story.
Perhaps...
But i think it can also portray a lack of drive or dedication to something, or even a lack of progress or growth. if nothing green ever grew, thst means no one was there to nurture or tend to it.
it shows the poverty in that place but it can also be used as a metaphor... how? well sometimes if one doesnt use their mind then they dont progress. they tend to stay in the contition that they have been living because "nothing green ever grew in that yard" u need to water seeds or something for grass to grow much like a person is supposed to be induced to think for themselves. nothing will grow where nothing has been implanted or worked on
yes i agree with all of you
was richard really lazy? or was the quote symbolic of the socioeconomic differences between whites and blacks at that time? remember, richard says later that the trees, the hedges, and the lawns became an "overreaching symbol of fear" for him. that fear is directly associated with his fear/hatred of white people, and everything that they had that he didn't because of his color, including green, growing things.
i could be wrong, but it seems that it would be very difficult to grow anything in a yard of cinders. but those were the only types of places where black people were allowed to live at that time, if they didn't live as sharecroppers on farmland. i'm not saying that you're wrong on this, but it's something else to think about...
i disagree with you Ez i think green shows or represents life and prosperity maybe its a metaphor of the people's lack of it.
Someone once told me, "without vision you perish." This quote shows hhow the dedication and the drive to do, and accomplish something is not there.
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