From the two short stories you have read what do we learn about what :: English Literature

From the two short stories you have read what do we learn about what it was like for American black people to live in Americain the 1950s? From the two short stories; The Gold Cadillac by M.D. Taylor and 1955 by Alice Walker, both set in 1950s America and both written by black female writers we learn about the segregation, racism and poverty of 1950s black America. Both these stories are set in the deep south of America. The gold Cadillac is about a young black girl who knows nothing about racism and discovers it for the first time as she travels with her family into the Deep South in a gold Cadillac. 1955 is written from the point of view of a black woman who has experienced the racism her whole life. America in the 1950s was segregated in the Deep South; it was divided into black ghettos. Even radio stations were divided into stations playing only black music and ones only playing white music. Before Elvis Presley black music would not be played to a white audience so it did not get the recognition it deserved, but Elvis's music was played on all stations and democratised music. Black people did not have the freedom that white people had and were discriminated everywhere they went, black people could not use the same buses and could not eat in the same restaurants as white people and were discriminated by police because the law was nearly completely run by white people, they were turned away at shops and were discriminated against in nearly all other places. In M.D. Taylor's "The Gold Cadillac" the family are driving through the Deep South and the girl sees signs saying "White only coloured not allowed" In Alice walker's "1955" Gracie Mae tells her husband J.T. to put his shirt on because Traynor who is a white man comes to the door, this is because white people had to be treated with more respect because they were seen as more important than black people. The American civil war took place in 1865 and slavery was abolished in the Deep South, but 90 years later there is still resentment from whites towards blacks. The two short stories are all about the prejudice against blacks in the Deep South and how it affects people's lives and freedom. In "The Gold Cadillac" the family is trying to aspire to be rich as they live