Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody

In early US times, people followed certain ways of life, including segregation and discrimination based on race. Mama grew up in one time and Anne, another. Anne Moody experienced a life derived from a generation gap, which came from her mother. A generation gap refers to the time between one person's life and another. Generation gaps accurately displayed Anne's taking an active role in the movement towards black's rights.

Mama lived in a world of segregation and discrimination. To her, segregation is commonplace and normal. Mama, unlike Anne, only finished the sixth grade (42). Mama constantly had children, approximately seven in all (113), while Anne had none. Mama regularly worked as a maid (34) and attended church on the weekends, whereas Anne at one point in her life felt so frustrated she wanted to deny god and make herself her own god (318). Mama knew her place within society and didn't feel willing to break away from her traditional role as a black woman. However, Mama would not dare resist society's ways or act like an equal because she feared for her life. She thought if she did try changing how whites treated blacks, she would put herself in harms way. She felt as though a black person's value is next to nothing. Also, Mama didn't take a particular liking to white people and when Anne asked about them, Anne once said "Every time I tried to talk to Mama about white people she got mad" (40).

As a child, Anne didn't initially notice a difference between whites and blacks. She just thought of whites as people, not as a color. She had tutored white boys after school and one of the boys, Wayne, developed an interest in her, but Mrs. Burke, didn't think Anne should get involved with the white boy (152). As Anne grew up, she noticed subtle differences in whites and blacks, but only because of society. Anne mostly worked for white people, like Mrs. Burke, but primarily because Mama thought Anne should work for whites. At one point Anne felt afraid to work for white people (218). She noticed how black people didn't have equality and so she worked towards black's rights by joining the NAACP (249) and CORE (287) to advocate black's rights. Anne felt inclined to fight against everyday norms unlike her mother.

Although a generation gap ran Anne's life, both Anne and her mother have slight similarities. For example, Anne thought, "Negroes aren't even considered human" (368). They both feel as though black people get treated harshly. Also, both Anne and Mama grew up in poverty. They lived off of little and didn't get great jobs either. Anne got beat as a child (12) and Mama experienced abuse from her husband (18). Lastly, they both feared getting killed simply because of their color: "There was a new fear known to me - the fear of being killed just because I was black" (125).

Had Anne not experienced a generation gap from her mother, she would have lived a life just like her mother. Anne wouldn't have ever fought against social norms of the time and most likely she wouldn't have such a great historic story to tell. Generation gaps ran Anne's life, controlled her ways of thinking, and even swayed her actions. Anne Moody lived a harsh childhood, grew up, went to college and became an activist for Negro rights. She realized blacks had a rough life because they faced segregation, racism, and even murder. She fought for their equality, desegregation, voting rights (331), and for their overall welfare in response to their treatment.

Source: Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody.