Anthology of Ideas

Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why The Cage Bird Sings” is a wonderful look into the mind of a girl in her battles with racism, sexism and coming to terms with herself. Her story begins at the age of three on the way Momma’s store after her mother put her on a train and ends years later after the birth of her son. Through out this time Maya must learn to live with others perception of her and even more difficultly herself.

Maya’s rape set the stage for the rest of her life. It starts off for Maya as just searching for affection and she begins to look at Mr. Freeman as a father figure, however Freeman takes advantage of this and after two smaller incidents rapes her. Freeman not only rapes her but rather than being a so-called crime of passion plans it specifically. When Maya goes to leave with her brother Freeman tells her to get some milk knowing that she will return with no one else around. Maya as strange it may seem was rather lucky, the incident was not as horrible as some and left her with minor mental scarring. However this does not negate the actions of Freeman, he took advantage of Maya and suffered the ultimate price for it. Maya was right to lie on the witness stand, had she confessed (note the word used) she would have been blamed for the rape. In modern times many excuses like “she was promiscuous” referring to a three year old and many other pathetic examples exist where child molesters get reduced sentences because the child is judged to share responsibility, and since human nature rarely changes one can assume it would have happened then too.

Maya’s descent into melancholy caused by her lying on the witness stand and the resulting death it caused only completely ended when she ran away from home and lived at the junkyard for a time. After being accepted into the group she was finally able to “find herself” and gained self-esteem and confidence in herself and her abilities. The transformation that started at the junkyard finally finished after becoming a mother Maya shows the life changing possibilities that the sudden responsibility of another life in your hands can bring. However even in this revelation she still is confused about the role of parent-child considering it more about ownership that parenting. However one is too assume this feeling soon subsides as Maya spends more time as a mother.

The incident with the “powhitetrash” hints at the mindset of the maturer and wiser blacks in the south, “living with your head in the tiger’s mouth” as Ralph Edison puts it. Momma’s refusal to acknowledge the girls antics, which are meant to dehumanize and abuse her, allows her to “beat” them at their own game and Momma’s steadfast respect allows her to keep her dignity, as she has not been “brought down” to their level.

Racism the book shows is not a one or a two way street, it is not just white versus black, black versus white. Racism is anyone who judges someone on the basis of skin color or descent. The idea that racism is mainly whites against other races is pervasive, however all groups tend to be racist for some reason or another. Culturally native Japanese tend to be the most racist (your either Japanese or your not) but this in and of itself is a racist idea. Programs like Affirmative action are also extremely racist, rather than removing racism as they intend to do they just hide it just below the surface. So rather than a business owner hiring all whites and making it obvious to his customers he is racist he ends up hiring his required (random numbers not actual statistics) seventy percent white and thirty percent minorities grudgingly. Although this may tend to be preferable to the people that actually get those jobs it is nearly as demeaning to tell someone that they got the job because they are not part of the “majority” as it is to say they can’t get the job for the same reason. Racism that tells people that they are dumb because of their race is the exact same as saying that they need extra help and can’t get what they need on their own because of their race.