A child is often thought to need protection from the harsh realities of the world around them: violence, poverty, sickness, and death. This protection, affords them innocence, to be “oblivious to worldly concerns”, as stated by Robin Bernstein in her book Racial Innocence. A child’s ignorance of the outside world, in effect, is part of their innocence. Yet, a child’s innocence depends on their family’s social class, their parents, and in particular: their race. In Mildred D. Taylor’s novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Taylor guides us through the experiences of an African American family living in the South. The Logan family, while better off than may African American families in Mississippi during the 1930s, lived during a period of time
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Kelly McDowell’s article “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry: A Culturally Specific, Subversive Concept of Child Agency” argues that the adults, Mama (Mary), Papa (David), Big Ma, Mr. Morrison and others, teach them “in a way that encourages autonomous action” (McDowell 213). She claims that the parents teach the children so that they may act on their own, meaning that the adults in the Logan family create agency for their children. In Jani L. Barker’s article, “Racial Identification and Audience in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and the Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963”, Barker focuses on the family unit within the novel, and how the family deals with the concept of racism. While McDowell focuses on the adults and their decision to integrate their children into the current social situation, and Barker on the family as a unit, I focus on Cassie Logan. I argue that while allowing a child to remain innocent is a just cause, educating black children – in this case the education of Cassie Logan by the adults in her family – to be aware of the potentially dangerous circumstances by providing them agency is more important than maintaining their innocence during the 1930s. I do this by analyzing three scenes in particular: the visit to the Berry family led by Mama, Mr. Morrison’s explanation and story about slavery, and the most pivotal scene for Cassie’s education: the visit – and aftermath – to Strawberry. Cassie Logan must learn the true nature of the society in which she lives, in order to protect
Kelly McDowell’s article “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry: A Culturally Specific, Subversive Concept of Child Agency” argues that the adults, Mama (Mary), Papa (David), Big Ma, Mr. Morrison and others, teach them “in a way that encourages autonomous action” (McDowell 213). She claims that the parents teach the children so that they may act on their own, meaning that the adults in the Logan family create agency for their children. In Jani L. Barker’s article, “Racial Identification and Audience in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and the Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963”, Barker focuses on the family unit within the novel, and how the family deals with the concept of racism. While McDowell focuses on the adults and their decision to integrate their children into the current social situation, and Barker on the family as a unit, I focus on Cassie Logan. I argue that while allowing a child to remain innocent is a just cause, educating black children – in this case the education of Cassie Logan by the adults in her family – to be aware of the potentially dangerous circumstances by providing them agency is more important than maintaining their innocence during the 1930s. I do this by analyzing three scenes in particular: the visit to the Berry family led by Mama, Mr. Morrison’s explanation and story about slavery, and the most pivotal scene for Cassie’s education: the visit – and aftermath – to Strawberry. Cassie Logan must learn the true nature of the society in which she lives, in order to protect