What happened to Johnnie Jordan Essay

Document Type:Research Paper

Subject Area:History

Document 1

As depicted from the first chapter, Charles Johnson and his family are facing life challenges despite being in their native country (Chapter 1, Page3). They are also shown to be a religious people. Mr. Johnson is described to strictly follow religion as he is seen to attend church in Toledo (Chapter 1, Page 4, 5). African Americans are depicted as a people who face a lot of oppression in America. Some are seen to help the poor to get justice. They seem to act like an intermediary between the poor and the rich. Then there is the very unfortunate group of the poor who face a lot of challenges in the eyes and hands of the rich and middle class. In their fight for justice (Chapter 3) they are oppressed and face a lot of challenges in their day to day life.

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Jennifer Toth as a journalist (Orphans of a Living) brings out the challenges of the poor and finally justice is sought and found (Chapter 3). On the other hand, the book also tells us that the white people are always afraid that the African Americans will one day rise and turn the tables. The fear from both sides is the major cause of hatred between the two racial groups. Regarding the rich, the middle class and the poor, the theme is symbolically brought out through Central High School. The school is designed to suit the needs of the rich that cannot be afforded by the most African American populace. Can we trust what these sources tell us about these groups? From an academic approach, an author like Jeniffer Toth can be trusted as a source since she has studied political science, history, and philosophy in London.

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For instance, when she depicts Native Americans as racists, this may not be entirely true. In contrast to Toth, Melba Beals can be trusted as a source to give information on matters of racial segregation and further on African Americans. According to her biography, Melba Joyner Pattillo Beals was born in Pattillo in 1941. She is also a member of the Little Rock Nine, which is a group of African-American learner who was the first to integrate Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas (Christensen, 2004). Base on the time when she was born as well as coming from the African American ethnic group, she experienced racial segregation first hand. However, these two books have major differences in the issues discussed because Toth has discussed many issues apart from racism, she has further discuses about women and the challenges that they observe.

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In Beal’s book, only race issues and challenges facing the African Americans have been discussed. She has not discussed any gender issues. Secondly, the approach taken by both authors also differs. For instance, Toth uses a narrative and presents a story to discuss her ideas (Toth, 2002). Consequently, her tales are motivated by true accounts and experiences. In fact, in her story, she has used examples of true events in the history of her life since it is a memoir. Secondly being that it is a memoir, it is discussing real events of life. Therefore it is more likely to be most trustworthy. On the contrary, Toth’s approach is through a story which makes it prone to bias and exaggeration.

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