Civil Rights

Coming of Age in Mississippi is Anne Moody's memoir of the civil rights movement in the United States. It therefore serves a different purpose as primary source historiography, rather than analytical secondary source historiography such as that written by David Garrow and Harvard. Moody grew up on a plantation, in conditions that are simply extensions of slavery. Her first hand awareness of what racism is, and what it does not just to individuals but whole communities, offers chilling contrast to the otherwise colder and more distant historical analyses. The "Childhood" section of Coming of Age in Mississippi details the harrowing conditions under which Moody was raised. Poverty and the grinding effects of racism on their souls have beaten down Moody's family, and they take out their anger and frustration on their children. Anne's father leaves the family for another woman, leaving Anne forced to work as a domestic...
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