The African American culture has faced many hardships in the past and today. Being so called “different” to others was already hard to face but being called ignorant names made it worse. Maya in the book “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” was called out of her name several times throughout the book as a sign of disrespect. Being named or labeled something other than your name out of disrespect was the ultimate challenge faced by African Americans.
During the book Maya gets a toothache and needs medical attention. She goes to a white dentist that her Granma is acquaintance with but he refuses to treat her because of her race the dentist was opposed to seeing or treating her and afraid of the judgment from helping a black girl. In an article it states, “Blacks were easily targeted by whites because of their color from the rest of the populate making then highly visible targets for enslavement moreover, the development of the belief that they were an “inferior” race with a “heathen” culture made it easier for whites to
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Most African Americans could not do anything about being put in those situations but just deal with them and grow from them. They also faced being called derogatory names that were carried along through their hard times. Maya worked for Mrs. Cullinan that was disrespectful to African Americans that worked for her. Maya was called the word “nigger” by the boss for breaking plates. She had no respect for Maya and had no sympathy for using suck a negative word. Mrs. Cullinan states, “That clumsy nigger…” These words were used daily in the lives of African Americans. It was hard for them to ignore this word because of the hatred behind the word. They were