Coates Outline

Brandon, Montrell, and Duncan

March 22, 2018

ENG 101

Coates Outline

• Coates uses a balance between storytelling and statistics to properly educate people on a topic that existed in history and continues to exist today; Racism in America.

The Story of Clyde Ross:

“Between 1882 and 1968, more black people were lynched in Mississippi than in any other state.”

Ross grew up in Mississippi and he had a rough childhood. African Americans growing up in the south usually had to suffer hard labor. His family worked on a farm and only made about 5 cents per pound of cotton. Once Ross was old enough, he was stationed in the military in california and found he could go into stores and not be harassed. After the war, he travelled to Chicago where he lived the rest of his life.

Life in Chicago:

“Ross had tried to get a legitimate mortgage in another neighborhood, but was told by a loan officer that there was no financing available. The truth was that there was no financing for people like Clyde Ross.”

Ross moved into a predominantly jewish neighbor which over time became predominantly African American. Sellers would harshly overprice the homes and  if a single month’s rent was missed, they would be evicted. The contractors were taking money for sport. The homeowners protested and fought for their 13th and 14th amendments.

The Partings of Families in Slavery:

“When the wife and children of Henry Brown, a slave in Richmond, Virginia, were to be sold away, Brown searched for a white master who might buy his wife and children to keep the family together. He failed”

African American families were often separated and broken and treated as products in a inhumane order. Coates continues to use stories to convey this information. Slave labor as an asset was worth more than all of America’s productivity in the 1860’s.

Government Involvement:

“At the end of World War I, black veterans returning to their homes were assaulted for daring to wear the American uniform”

Coates starts to use statistics to tie together his overall topic in the article. He states how government embraced discrimination for benefit in the marketplace. City housing began to be segregated in Chicago. Blacks and whites lived in completely different areas from each other.