Inequality In Roll Of Thunder, Hear My Cry

The book Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry was extremely eye-opening for me. Since this book was so realistic and detailed, I saw how racist and hard the Great Depression was. Not only did I see the importance of equality, I also learned that family should always stick together. Before reading this book, I had no idea how bad the racism and inequality was during the Great Depression. Sadly, this terrible thing is still in our world, today. In addition, I realized that without the Logan family staying strong and never leaving anyone behind, they wouldn’t have survived. Some families in our day still face these challenges. There are so many families that have split up or only have one parent, which is hard enough. This isn’t even adding in the effects of racism.
The lesson I learned from Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry was the importance of equality and having a strong family bond. Throughout this whole story, there were signs of inequality, but the main part was near the end (252-254). During this time, T.J, a friend of Stacey’s, got accused of robbing and assaulting a white family for guns. It was actually Melvin and R.W who did it, and T.J

was just forced into it. They broke into the store and told T.J that if he didn’t come in with them, they would kill him. As Melvin and R.W were trying to get as many guns as possible, Mr. and Mrs. Barnett came down and tried to stop the robbery. The darkness of the night made them look like they were black, so after they assaulted Mr. and Mrs. Barnett the two friends ran away. They told the husband and wife after they woke up that it was T.J and two other black men. Since Melvin and R.W were white, everyone believed them and went straight to T.J’s house for his murder. This scene was filled with terror and sadness because of the amount of racism in it. T.J ended up being sent to the chain-gang (a very hostile type of jail that convicts were sent to). The intensity of the night made me feel how unfair T.J and his family were treated because of their color. I felt so much for this character, so it made me realize how wrong and painful this is. I thought about all the violence and rebellions from racism. Civil rights have always been a problem in our country and it definitely hasn’t ended. We shouldn’t treat others differently because of their color, ethnicity, religion or anything else.
The importance of equality relates to sticking together as a family because, without the family strength, the Logan’s wouldn’t have been as well-off compared to the other black families. Mama, Big Ma, and Papa always talked through everything that they wanted to do and they were always on each other’s side even if they didn’t fully agree. This bond in their family gave the Logan’s a chance to speak out about the cruel way the blacks were treated. All the other black families in the town couldn’t do much because their land that they lived on, was owned by a wealthy, white person. Since the Logan family had their own land, a source of income, and no problems in the family, they could focus on the bigger problem; equality.
In our world today there are so many single-parent families. Some parents have to work 2-3 jobs just to put food on the table for their kids. This life of just trying to survive doesn’t give them time to speak up about equality. Even though civil rights would end up helping some of these problems, many of them can barely make enough money to survive. Most of this isn’t their fault. White men still get paid more for some jobs and it is still easier for white people to get a job compared to black or colored people. Some of us think that this isn’t a big deal anymore, but it is. All of the black lives matter protesting should show that this hasn’t ended. The way you look at someone shouldn’t change because of their color.
Now that I’ve learned these valuable lessons I’m going to tell people when they are saying something racist, sexist, or anything that would make someone feel unequal. Here at Smithville, I hear racism and sexism all the time. When I do see these terrible acts I am going to tell whoever is saying these things that it isn’t right. Even if those people aren’t around to hear it, it still is very wrong to say. Usually, I am just the bystander and I never say anything, but now I’ve realized that I need to take a stand. Furthermore, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry will help me when dealing with family problems. Usually when things aren’t the best with my family I just go down to my room and let everyone else deal with it. I already have a pretty mixed up family life and hiding from those problems is just going to make it worse. If I had better communication with my family it would help my life and their lives very much. There have been many times where my brother or I forgot to do something, didn’t have a ride home or our parents just weren’t aware of what was happening. Before this, I just blamed it on my mom because I thought that she should be more responsible and know more about my life. This was a lose-lose because one of the main reasons she didn’t know about my life was because I didn’t talk to her. She never knew what was going on because I never told her anything. I’ve started talking to my mom a lot more and we have definitely gotten a lot stronger bond. I actually feel like I can talk to her now, which will definitely help me in the long run. This book has already made a difference in my life and will for a long time.
In conclusion, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry will always have a huge effect on me.

It seems to me that if everyone could read this book and understand the cruelness of that time, it would make a substantial difference. Many of us don’t have the knowledge about slavery, post-slavery and civil rights to realize how important it is. Not only do we not have the knowledge, many don’t want to take a stand. Even the little racist comments are still something that isn’t right. Additionally, many teens don’t have much communication or strong bonds with their parents or family members. Knowing the importance of this from reading this book would help anyone in the present and future. Family is the base of everything and I’m finally starting to learn that. Reading this book made me see the importance of equality and having a strong family

bond.