The wide spread racial segregation and prejudice in the 19th and 20th centuries belittled African Americans into a state of enslavement. Their initial lack of unity and fear of white authority provided them with slow social restructuring. The modern civil rights movement grew out of the desire for change and a path where African Americans were able to live in political equity. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou and "Southern Man" by Neil Young, both authors illustrate the national feeling and struggle during this time period. In her text, Maya Angelou hints at the ideas of social change through the fields of a church and a boxing match. Neil Young writes about a southern man and his wrongful behavior towards blacks. During the civil rights movement and through the actions and lyrics of the following texts, Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Neil Young's "Southern Man" express the necessity of changing the structures of white authority and challenge the social norm that mistreating blacks is acceptable.
             In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, blacks come together in church to regain confidence in their livelihood, yet lack the voice to go up against the structures of white authority. For example, black workers enter a store after a day of work and the narrator "thought them all hateful to have allowed themselves to be worked like oxen, and even more shameful to try to pretend that things were not as bad as they were. [...] I wanted to tell them shortly to stand up [...] but Momma would have beaten me if I'd open my mouth" (Angelou 189). The older generations of blacks wish against any type of direct action to improve their conditions, action and events that the younger generations wish to participate in. The blacks know that they live the worst lives compared to other races, yet they do little to take initiative to better their situations. The narrator...