It would be blasphemous to say that the United States doesn’t have a dark past when it comes to racism and the treatment of african americans in the early 1900’s. In Mildred D. Taylor’s Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry the reader sees the regressive tactics used by southern white men to keep the african americans in their communities from progressing, economically and politically. One of the tactics that was utilized largely is called, sharecropping. Taylor makes this a key point in her novel because of how detrimental it was to african americans and also because of how prevalent it was in the south during the early 1900’s. Sharecropping is a key idea in Taylor’s novel and the practice of it largely impacts the characters in the story as well as offer a window into history for the reader to see the mentality of the southerners during the early 1900’s and also their motives for committing the acts that Taylor describes, and that history remembers.

During the reconstruction era in America (1865-1877) many of the southern states were still upset over the Civil War and were also looking for different ways to limit african americans as they did not recognize them as full citizens yet. Many different tactics we’re used to accomplish this and Taylor includes the majority of them in her novel. Sharecropping or tenant farming was one of the most regressive put in place. This was a style of farming where white plantation owners offered plots of land to newly freed slaves and in payment they took most of what their tenants grew. This in turn limited how much profit the tenants could make and also the owners could raise the price anytime they wanted further limiting any advancement for the african americans. This went on well into the 1900’s and Taylor shows evidence of this practice being utilized many times. The Logan’s, who are the main family in the novel, we’re lucky enough to own their farm. This was unlike many of the other families who we’re going broke because of the conditions they were enduring. According to Benjamin H. Hibbard, who wrote for the Quarterly Journal of Economics, at the end of the Civil War farm owners were left with less land and no workers. Therefore a new system was created in order to entice the african americans to retake their positions working on the fields they had just left. With no homes, money, and for most no education they willingly took positions working jobs where they knew they could make no profit. They were called tenants “but not a tenant in the same sense as that implied by the term in the North.” 1 Hibbard wrote his article in 1913 and that quote shows the problem that existed in the south. It gives truth to the fictional story that Taylor wrote and sheds light on a context that we have trouble understanding because of how different it is today in the south. Also his statement and article are artifacts in time because they analyze and talk about a practice that was only used for a short duration and plus is a practice that is widely rejected now.

The use of sharecropping was for one reason; to limit the advancement of african americans in society. Taylor harps on this in her novel and there are many different events where the reader can see how the white individuals are doing things a certain way just to stop the progression of african americans in their community. The reader can also see how the families the Logan’s live around are hurt by the practices like sharecropping. Small things like not being able to boycott a store because they can’t afford the trip to a different town a couple miles away. Frankly a lot of the events seem too crazy to have actually happen and while the specific events in the novel are fictional, similar situations occurred frequently during this time period. An african american writer from the early 1900’s named L.H. Hammond wrote an article for the Annals of the American Academy for Political and Social Science that had to do with the white and black relationship in the South during that time period. He wrote “We say, here in the south….that their homes are a menace to the health of the community; and that they largely furnish our supply of criminals and paupers.” In this quote he is talking from the point of view of the white individuals in the south and by they he means the african americans. He also goes on to talk of why this is a saying, explaining how white people feel this way because it’s stamped into their brain. They believed at the time that because their skin was a different color, then in turn that was the reasoning behind their actions. But the real reason lies in the economics. Sharecropping was the source of all of these misconceptions and lies that the white folks at the time were telling themselves because that was the main factor limiting african americans at the time. Taylor uses situations in her novel that show similarities to the misconceptions in the quote. These situations reflect how sharecropping limited the african americans economic status and quality of life. The economic restrictions allowed the white citizens to go around and say that the african american’s houses looked worse than everyone elses, that the black children were thieves because they stole food they needed but couldn’t afford and that the men were criminals because they fought back when they and their families were disrespected and tormented by white men. And although all of those examples were fictional events in Taylor’s novel there are many examples like the fact that african americans got far worse education and that they were dealing with plantation owners who basically owned them that show the parallels between a fictional book and historical events. Even though the fictional and factual events aren’t exactly identical they are similar enough that in combination with the southern white male mentality during the time period, it’s extremely likely that the fictional events could have occurred. Taylor did an amazing job making the context as accurate as possible, but at the same time it is upsetting to get a glimpse at how backwards people’s thought processes were at the time.

Taylor’s novel leaves a very strong impression on the reader and shapes a very realistic and accurate context that is consistent with what actually transpired in history. The practice of sharecropping is one of the dominant injustices that occurs in the novel. But just like in the novel tenant farming and sharecropping was one of the largest injustices african americans dealt with in the early 1900’s. It was also known by the african americans at the time and L.H Hammond talks about how the lack of progress economically by african americans is one of the stitches that was keeping racism alive in the southerners minds. All of the terrible events that occurred in Taylor’s novel like the lynchings, the fights and the disrespectfulness stemmed from the fact that african americans couldn’t afford proper clothes and proper means of living because the plantation owners wouldn’t allow them too. The owners had control and made sure a proper lifestyle could not be achieved for their tenants, but made sure their lives were full of luxury. Taylor made sure the reader understood that fact and according to Hibbard and Weatherford she was correct in doing so. It is unsettling to read about racism in the South during this time period but Taylor wrote her story parallel to the events that transpired in history and that is what allowed the reader to see from the context what history really has to tell about the 1930’s in Mississippi.
