Follow The Drinking Gourd Analysis

The African-American folk song, “Follow the Drinking Gourd” was composed in order to provide runaway slaves the directions needed to reach the free states. This folk song provided instructions on how to avoid the white man on their journey, meaning how to avoid capture, being returned to slavery, and potential death; the verses in the song tell the slaves when to move and what to look for. In the H.B. Parks version of “Follow the Drinking Gourd”, he tells runaways:
“When the sun come back, when the firs’ quail call,
Then the time has come, foller the drinkin’ gou’d.” (Bresler 1)
These lyrics are direct guidance for runaway slaves, but through this guidance there is an undertone of how to dodge and weave around the white man. However, instructions come to …show more content…
The authors speak on the difference of a white and black individual applying for a job, purchasing property, and accessing and education. Harris and Schaupp state that it is “an act of violence to be denied access to a job, housing, educational program, pay raise, or promotion that one deserves” (101). Further, the authors describe how African-American children are losing the chance to obtain a good education in our society; African-American women are losing economic and emotional stability in the fact that they are barred from owning their own land; and white children are doing better in school – something that cannot be disproven no matter how much researchers tip the scales or change the studies conducted (101). From what history tells us about the lives of the formerly enslaved individuals and the present day issues pertaining to African-Americans, there seems to have been no change in our society. Harris and Schaupp define this lack of change as a “more subtle racism” (101). This subtle form of racism is the effect of years of the white man using their invisible privilege and taking advantage over the black