It is easy to deny things that are difficult to face or that make a person feel inferior as a defense mechanism. Young Essie watches her mother employ this type of behavior when faced with adversity and decides at a young age that she would rather question the things that do not seem right to her. She realizes at a very young age that racism is real and is perplexed by it. She understands that there is a difference in skin color, but she does not understand how that equates with darker skin being inferior. At one point she decides to play doctor in order to examine the bodies and genitals of white children in order to find a difference that may explain why they are treated better. She learns that there is no difference between them which makes
…show more content…
She learned from a young age that light skinned blacks were treated better than dark skinned blacks. She often refers to these people as “yellow” because their skin color is close to that of white people. Her first encounter with this was when her father, Diddly left her mother for Florence. The most significant impact on Essie was her relationship with Raymond’s family who she says “were Negroes and we were also Negroes. I just didn’t see Negroes hating each other so much “(Moody 59) from a young age she learned that lack of unity within the black community was problematic and something to fear. Her relationship with Raymond’s family motivated her to do better in school, so that she could prove her worth, and eventually got her into college. Essie eventually changed her name to Annie Mae before high school to sound more sophisticated and less like a barn animal. This is another example of separating herself from her community. When Annie is old enough she goes off to college and is nervous that she will not be accepted because most people there are light-skinned. Annie herself becomes prejudice against lighter skin blacks and furthers her divide in the black community. This type of thinking and emphasis on skin color was a way to break down the black community because if the black community was unified against racism progress would have a fighting
She learned from a young age that light skinned blacks were treated better than dark skinned blacks. She often refers to these people as “yellow” because their skin color is close to that of white people. Her first encounter with this was when her father, Diddly left her mother for Florence. The most significant impact on Essie was her relationship with Raymond’s family who she says “were Negroes and we were also Negroes. I just didn’t see Negroes hating each other so much “(Moody 59) from a young age she learned that lack of unity within the black community was problematic and something to fear. Her relationship with Raymond’s family motivated her to do better in school, so that she could prove her worth, and eventually got her into college. Essie eventually changed her name to Annie Mae before high school to sound more sophisticated and less like a barn animal. This is another example of separating herself from her community. When Annie is old enough she goes off to college and is nervous that she will not be accepted because most people there are light-skinned. Annie herself becomes prejudice against lighter skin blacks and furthers her divide in the black community. This type of thinking and emphasis on skin color was a way to break down the black community because if the black community was unified against racism progress would have a fighting