Anne Moody grew up in the South during a time of violence, oppression, segregation, and uncertainty. The 50’s and 60’s were a unique period in U.S history because it was here that African Americans were murdered, outcast and not accepted in the southern society. Struggling to understand why these things were happening and why no one was doing anything to prevent it, Anne Moody would later join the Civil Rights Movement because of racial violence, her relationship with her mom and her experiences in New Orleans.
The racial violence that Anne was exposed to as a child would later influence her decision to join the Civil Rights Movement. A week before she was supposed to start school, she would hear about …show more content…
Anne’s mother is part of the older generation who accepted white oppression and grew up fearing death at the hands of the whites. Yet, Anne can be seen as a part of a generation who doesn’t quite understand this violence and she refuses to live in fear of white oppression and is determined to make since of race. Thus, Anne and her mom constantly collide when Anne ask her mother questions and her mom never provides Anne with any answers. After she learned of Emmett Till’s death, she wondered if her mom had heard anything and she wanted to ask her mom about it. One night while eating before work Anne asked her mom if she has heard about Emmett’s death. Her mother quickly lashes back and tells Anne “You go on to work before you is late. And don’t you let on like you know nothing about that boy being killed before Mrs. Burke them. Just do you work like you don’t know nothing.” (Moody 130) Unsure of why her mom acted so scared, and why it mattered if Mrs. Burke knew that they knew, Anne’s understanding of race would get more and more complicated. It is also good to understand that Anne’s mother grew up living the life of a sharecropper and had to raise nine children in poverty, which can be seen as forms of oppression that her mother was bound to. Anne’s constant longing for answers and her mom’s idea of maintaining status quo, would ensure …show more content…
Her decision to join the Civil Rights movement was influenced by the racial violence she experienced, her relations with her mother, and the time she spent in New Orleans. Though, Anne isn’t recognized as a well-known figure of the Civil Rights Movement, her contributions to the movement and life experiences make her an civil rights icon in the United States during the 50’s and