Growing up White in the 1930's
Group 5
1. What do these three ladies have in common about their ancestry? How do they talk about their families?
All their family's were nice to black people. They were raised to learn that girls should do girl things.
2. How do the three ladies describe a "good family"? Hypothesize how you think a black person would describe a "good family"?
If your father has a good job, your mother stayed home and you had a couple of maids. That was a good family. It didn't matter if you had money seeing as though not many people had money anyways.
3. What were the three ladies living conditions like?
The three ladies were land poor. They owned lots of land, but never made any income (Camille and Mary Ann). She was a city child, her father was a lawyer, she never thought about land (Cecil).
4. How do the ladies describe their interactions with poor whites? Were there many poor white people in the thirties? How do you know - What things did the women say that help you come to this conclusion?
The ladies stayed away from the poor whites because they described them as diseased. Many people were poor and white from the Great Depression. You were only rich if your dad made good money.
5. What were these ladies' first experiences with black people?
With a black nurse who was a honest Christian (Cecil). Black sharecroppers who worked with her grandmother (Camile). All three ladies had black playmates.
6. How did the occupations of black people influence the perception of black people according to the three ladies?
the black nurse showed that black people are kind. The black sharecroppers show that black people are hard working. The black playmates show that black people are just the same as any other kid.
7. Did these white ladies ever play with their black peers?
Yes as children they all had black playmates.
8. If you were to look closely at their experiences, what attitudes do they display which were shaped by their parents? Their nurses? Their status in white society?
Your race doesn't matter.
9. How would you generalize the overall life of a white child growing up in the 1930's?
The white children were poor, but did not care about your race.
Prediction for to Kill a Mockingbird
They will learn to accept African Americans more.