Identity Essay “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” is an autobiography written by Maya Angelou, in which she takes us through the early chapters of her life. Throughout her childhood, her main caregiver was Annie Henderson, her grandmother. Miss Henderson, also referred to as Momma throughout the book, is a religious black woman who owned the only black store in Stamps, Arkansas. Her strength from decades of experience and discrimination as a black woman played a big part in how Maya established her values throughout life. In this document, we’ll be diving into how Momma is affected by ethnocentrism One example of ethnocentrism can be found in chapter 5. A group of dirty white girls walked into the Store and were disrespecting Momma. They called Momma by her first name, mocked her, and tried other ways to irritate Momma. One of the girls did a handstand in front of Momma, revealing her pubic area as her dress fell down, and she wasn’t wearing anything underneath. Although even through all of that, Momma kept her composure and treated them with respect, because only bad things can come out of treating them with any sort of disrespect. Momma learned this from her experiences throughout her life. Because of the consequences that come from a person of color disrespecting or doing …show more content…
Previously, there was a man who was being hunted for “assaulting white womanhood”, and he hid in the Store. Later, he was caught and questioned in court. He said that he hid in Mrs. Henderson’s store. The judge asked for Mrs. Henderson, and when she arrived, most of the whites in the audience started laughing because the judge referred to Momma with the honorific Mrs., and they didn’t expect a person of color to be a store-owner. This is an example of ethnocentrism because the whites thought that there was no way a black person could own a store, and those expectations became the