I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (with Heather L., Greg, Heather R.L., Jean, Gail and anyone else?)

[Greg]

LOL Jean, no that is my partner. :) His parents were imprisoned in the Japanese internment camps as small children because of their Japanese blood, despite the fact that they were born here.

But no, my problem was sexual orientation. I was fairly young and confused myself when I lived there, but my behavior and interests were not quite right for the guys-club atmosphere. And I am just awful at faking anything - it doesn't go well when I try. If I tried out a career as an actor I would starve! :)

Yes Heather, I do think Angelou would've approved of the discussion. And Laura, I think that's true that different places go through that process of integration all the time, even sometimes different places in the same country. :)

I think maybe the US was one of the last ones to hold onto slavery though - does anyone know if I'm right? That combined with the legacy of the Civil War made things particularly bad here I think, at least regionally. I wonder if any other countries had the equivalent of the Jim Crow laws or if that was unique to us? Those laws (covered in the book if I recall) were so pernicious. Such a shameful time in history!

[Bionic Jean]

Ah I must have conflated two things there - sorry Greg!

I too thought it was generally accepted that the US was one of the last large countries to abolish slavery (although the African country of Mauritania didn't abolish slavery until 1981). But this is an interesting and very detailed timeline, which shows how persistent the practice was.

Hidden slavery in various forms is still present, I suspect in more countries than we'd expect.

[[deleted user]]

That timeline is very interesting, thanks Jean.

I find it quite terrifying that the US made a law requiring the return of escaped slaves to their owner in 1850 although looking at the timeline, I think by then it was becoming less accepted.

The history of slavery is something I find incredibly difficult to think about 9as, I suppose does everybody). When I went to the Wilberforce house in Hull I cried my way around the exhibition. I also visited Cape Coast in Ghana (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Coast) which was again, a harrowing experience.

In terms of the Jim Crow Laws, I have had to look those up! Reading about it, I suppose it is similar to Apartheid in South Africa in a way. I hadn't realised how recently that sort of segregation had occurred, I must read more about it to educate myself

[Greg]

Oh of course you're right Heather! Apartheid was very similar to the Jim Crow laws - an enforced separation by law down to the most obscure details. It's a much lighter read, but The Help actually has a great deal in it about those laws too.

Thanks for the link Jean! Fascinating and also disturbing - some great information there.

[[deleted user]]

I keep meaning to read The Help. So many books, so little time...

[Greg]

Some of the Jim Crow laws had to do with "colored" people using separate libraries, ones which were of course terribly underfunded by comparison. It might sound silly, but that restriction really struck me as a reader. For people with little access to education or books, what a slap in the face to be barred from libraries.

Here is a list of some Jim Crow laws as late as the 1960's. See the law regarding libraries in the Texas part.

http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/links/m...