Racism In Ernest J. Gaines A Gathering Of Old Men

The Effects of Racism in the South in Connection to A Gathering of Old Men Racism is a well-known subject in books. Many authors write about racism mainly because of their experience with the issue. They may also write about it to keep people informed on how people were treated by racist people. Ernest J. Gaines is one of the well-known authors who wrote about racism in the South. Gaines’s A Gathering of Old Men demonstrates how racism affects the South. One way that A Gathering of Old Men demonstrates the effects of racism in the South is by demonstrating how racism affects people’s professions. For example, Yank’s profession was breaking horses until the whites stopped letting him have horses to break: “They ain’t got no more horses to break no more… [a]nd …show more content…
One of the characters in the book, Charlie, is talking to Mapes when he points out, “He knowed I wasn’t go’n hit him. That’s what he thought…I caught him side the head, and he went down. I saw his head bleeding, and I thought I had kilt him, and I started running for the quarters” (Gaines 190). It was not like Charlie to hit back, but because he had enough of being abused, he fought back. Mathu, however is blamed because he is known for standing up to racist people. The Boutan family will want to seek revenge (Kenney 2). Fix Boutan is known for being violent to black people and since he heard of his son’s death, he is going to get revenge (Kenney 2). Mapes was another character who used violence: “Pow went Mapes’s hand again. Blood dripped from Uncle Billy’s mouth…’Stand him over there, bring me another one,’ Mapes said to Griffin” (Gaines 68). Mapes was another character who was racist (Cassidy 3). The old men are afraid that Mapes is going to harm them after killing Beau (Cassidy 2). All in all, racist people in the South tend to be violent towards