In the beginning of book two of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittmann, the
reader has the opportunity of seeing how Jane’s life finally changes for the
better and develops a motherly love towards Ned. From the start, Jane is
describing that her and Ned’s life have been so different from the enslaved
days they lived and the joy that their progress has given them, starting with
the fact that Ned was receiving an education. I certainly am glad that still
under a society that did not totally accept them, they were able to find
happiness and move forward with their lives.
Furthermore, it was impressive that black
people were starting to make progression by working as teachers and
politicians. At this time were racism blossomed, it was not easy to get a job
like these two; but this shows how courage and determination can take you
places you never thought you could ever go. Sadly, there will always exist
people who will want to see others fail. The most disappointing topic discussed
in the text was how colored people tried bringing down the efforts and little
achievements members of their own race were gaining. In my own conceit, one of
the most heartbreaking moments of this part of the story is when Jane quoted a
black Democrat’s opinion on the Republican Party who said: “I rather be a
Democrat with a tail than be a Republican that ain’t had no brains” (54). How
can someone talk like this of a group of people that worked so hard to give
him, his family and his entire ethnic group the freedom and respect they all
deserve? Even worse, there was a group calling themselves the Ku Klux Klan,
which rode all over the states beating and killing them as if they were no part
of the human race as well. I just wonder how they would have felt if the
situation was inverted and the white people were the ones being chased in their
everyday lives.
Putting all this hateful events aside, Ned left me speechless with the powerful sermon he dared give in a public space even though he knew he could get himself killed by it. In great essence his speech urged the black community to stand up as Americans and human beings that deserved to be treated with dignity. Ever since he was a young boy, Ned was described to be a person that would give anything to make a difference for his people to be heard and incorporated into the society that once denigrated them. It is thanks to human beings like him that today we get to enjoy the freedom of holding hands with people from other ethnicities and show others that “the only way you can be strong is stand together” (86).
Links:
Ned's Speech- The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittmann (movie)
