Maya Angelou uses the metaphor of a caged bird in "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" to symbolize the oppression and restrictions experienced by African Americans in society. Just like a caged bird, African Americans faced limitations on their freedom, opportunities, and rights, highlighting the struggles and challenges they had to overcome in a society that sought to confine and control them.
the south, where the Jim crow laws were in effect
African Americans faced the loss of progress they had gained.
jim crow laws
Discrimination
Some African Americans faced the challenges of not working, not having a good job, and some were also slaves.
They faced threats and violence.
They faced discrimination from banks.
Slavery was abolished in the United States with the ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865. However, African Americans faced numerous barriers to voting even after the abolition of slavery. The 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, granted African American men the right to vote, but discriminatory practices like literacy tests and poll taxes continued to disenfranchise them for decades. It wasn't until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that many of these barriers were effectively challenged and voting rights were more fully secured for African Americans.
they faced ecomonical Social legal Educational & Political SIMPLE
they faced threats and violence
The author of "Native Son" is Richard Wright. The book was published in 1940 and is a powerful portrayal of the struggles faced by African Americans in 1930s Chicago.