An Analysis Of Anne Moody's Coming Of Age In Mississippi

The autobiography, Anne Moody’s Coming of Age in Mississippi follows a young african american female named Anne through her early years. Anne Moody was born Essie Mae Moody in 1940 grew up in Wilkerson County Mississippi. It was a rural county marked by extreme poverty and racism. It follows Anne through the 1940s to the 1960s. As Anne matures she increasingly becomes conscious of racial inequalities. As Anne progresses through her life she sees significant anti-discrimination legislation had been passed. Anne’s poverty-stricken family worked on plantations until her father had deserted them. From then on to supplement her family’s meager income, Anne and her mother worked as maids for various white families. Anne and her family often worked with other african americans, there was animosity between those with varying skin darkness. “They were Negroes and we were also Negroes. I just didn’t see Negroes hating each other so much.”(ch 4) “They” referring to the Raymond’s family, an african american family with skin that was lighter. People like Raymond’s family looked down on those with darker skin. They were held to a higher class than those with very dark skin, although they legally they weren't treated any different than those with very dark skin. The lighter …show more content…
Anne begin at the start of her life, when she was four-years-old, the daughter of a couple sharecroppers working for a white farmer. She surpasses obstacles such as hunger and discrimination as she fights to survive childhood in one of the most racially discriminated states in the country. In revealing the tale of her life, Anne exhibits why the civil rights movement was so important and the deepness of the injustices it had to correct. Depicted in Anne’s autobiography are the battles that all southern african americans faced. Throughout her entire life she was on a