How does Anne Moody present the theme of racism?

Moody' s development and life are greatly shaped by the tremendous amount of racial discrimination and prejudice that African Americans face in the South at the time she is growing up. In the 1940 and 1950s, before Anne joins the civil rights movement, African Americans lacked many essential rights, such as the right to obtain an education equal to those offered to white children, and were often unable to exercise those rights they had, such as the right to vote. The African-American population of Mississippi face racial injustice in different ways. Most African Americans are relegated to low-paying, menial jobs; schools have inadequate facilities; and African-American farmers are not allowed to produce enough on their land to make a decent living. African Americans also face prejudice in the form of violence. Coming of Age in Mississippi provides many examples of beatings and murders inflicted upon African Americans. The provocation for these crimes often stems from wanting to intimidate African Americans or to punish them for doing something that goes against the segregationist codes of the South. The white police force does nothing to prevent these crimes and even participates in them at times.

Some whites in the book are openly and unquestionably racist, such as Mrs. Burke. Like so many other whites, Mrs. Burke thinks that African Americans are inferior and undeserving of proper treatment, and she wants her only contact with them to be in an employer-employee relationship. Other whites whom Anne meets support her as well as the African-American cause. Miss Ola, Mrs. Claiborne, Linda Jean Jenkins, and Mrs. Burke's mother are all people who treat Anne with respect. Revered King, his wife, and Joan Trombauer are examples of whites who work hard and risk their own safety to secure civil rights for African Americans.

However, the African-American community also is racially prejudiced. The mulatto population often looks down on the darker African-American population. Miss Pearl, a "yellow" woman with straight hair, dislikes Mama because her skin color is dark. Anne almost turns down the scholarship to Tugaloo because she hears that all the other students are mulattos and fears that they will mistreat her.