"Promised Land " by Nicholas Lemann analysis
In the southern United States cotton has been king for a couple of centuries. In the early days of the cotton plantations there were black slaves that tilled the land planted and raised the cotton until it was ready to be harvested by them. The practice of slavery was abolished at the end of the Civil War and there was a large number of blacks without work, education or any way to make money because all they knew was farming. The African Americans then began to work for little pay for the people that had once owned them. After a period where blacks were used as hired hands they then started to use the share cropping system. This system is where the owner of the farm lets another man farm his land and they divide the profit from the crop up. This way the former slaves can get started doing what they know how to do and can eventually save enough cash so they can get a farm started on there own. Sounds like a good way to live but in the novel "Promised Land " by Nicholas Lemann the process is exposed for all the problems that existed and how it hurt the African Americans that participated in sharecropping. The novel revolves around Clarksdale, Mississippi for the first quarter of the subject and exp
Lemann focuses on several different families in the town the one that seems to be his favorite is that of Ruby Hopkins who has had several fathers and not a very steady family salutation throughout her life. When the migrants to Chicago fell into the lifestyle that was there were problems with alcoholism and drug abuse in the slums. The family situation was still there that mothers would have children out of wedlock to several different fathers. Mothers would spend there money on their drug habits and fathers would spend there paychecks on things that they wanted so none of the money that was supposed to keep the family going hardly got there. Life was even unsafe for policemen who would not patrol the ghetto at night. The "underclass" had begun to evolve by the mid 1960's. With all that is wrong and corrupt about the south side of Chicago the best thing to do would be to get out of there as soon as possible because it is not getting any better. Many of the blacks were sick of a life with no money and being in debt so they would scrape together enough money to buy a bus ticket to get to Chicago. Many large plantations existed around the town and the area had a large number of blacks. Others have found success outside the projects. In the beginning of this migration north there were plenty of jobs and nice places to live and no problems this was all going to change. As more families moved in housing all of the migrants became an issue of blacks moving out because they could afford to live in richer white neighborhoods since they had made some money. The downfall of this "promised land" is the gangs, single parent families, drug abuse, alcoholism, no jobs, and of course crime. Clarksdale is a town on the delta and it makes a very fertile place to farm. Everyone was scared for his or her life.
Common topics in this essay:
African Americans,
Chicago Mothers,
Illinois Clarksdale,
Ruby Hopkins,
Clarksdale Mississippi,
African American's,
Life Southside,
Civil War,
Nicholas Lemann,
african americans,
promised land,
south chicago,
drug abuse,
life lemann,
families moved,
blacks moving,
drug habits,
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