Manchild In The Promised Land Analysis

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The Great Migration was the movement of six million African-Americans out of the rural Southern United States to the urban Northeastern, Midwest, and West that occurred between 1910 and 1970. Several leading causes for the push of the migration were better economic opportunities and the lack of social and economic opportunities in the South, and a prejudicial attitude that was held toward African-Americans. The novel, Manchild in the Promised Land, by Claude Brown exposed a struggling working class, the coming of age of youth in an impoverished and high criminal community, and the heroin epidemic; impacts of the Great Migration. Manchild in the Promised Land, by Claude Brown, can best be used as a tool to educate American youth about modern …show more content…

According to the Federal Statistics of poor students in the public school system, the percentage continues to rise. Over half of the students attending public schools in the United States are eligible for free or reduced lunch; this means that most come from low-income families. Many times as a result, for something simple, as wanting food, it leads to crime. “I saw Bucky on the floor with his arm around his little sister’s throat. He was choking her. Meanwhile, his big sister was bopping him on the head with a broom handle and they were all screaming.” (Brown 24) The quote mentioned previously provides the evidence of siblings fighting over something that seems vital; it is simply just an egg. The need for survival becomes crucial in one’s life, and stealing is not viewed as a crime, it is survival of the fittest. Although poverty leads to crime, one can choose the path they want to take in life. “They became a new class, the young elite of Harlem community. A few of them had government jobs. (Brown 341) Although the environment one lives, contributes to the way they are molded, the power of the way you want to live your life, is in your hands. “All youngsters in Harlem are confused in their thinking. Their thinking is influenced by their environment, by external values-not their own, but the values of the community, the people around them.” (Brown 368) Brown went to several reform schools, committed crimes, and did cocaine; he decided that he wasn’t going to stay in Harlem, where it was toxic, with the heroin epidemic and become a drug addict. As a result, he moved, and created a better life for himself. Manchild in the Promised Land can best be used as a tool to educate American youth about modern American history through realism that Claude Brown goes through; people will be able to relate to a

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