Oppression Of African Americans In Alice Walker's Meridian
A full understanding of a society's current condition only occurs if a thorough comprehension of the society's past is recognized. Alice Walker, in her novel Meridian, specifically utilizes references to Native American history to help depict African American life in the South during the civil rights movement. The text makes reference to the Native American past to effectively present its relationship to the position of African Americans during this time period and to better understand that position. The novel accomplishes this by comparing Native and African American sentiments of nature, relating the prevalent racism directed toward both groups, and by raising questions about who is guilty of oppression. For Native Americans land was the physical embodiment of their freedom. As Europeans conquered increasingly amounts of the Americas, the independence of Native Americans was proportionally being
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reduced. The native peoples of America had no concept of owning, selling, or buying land, let alone money itself. Gradually the Native Americans were being killed off, while the survivors were left with less and less land. Because Native American culture was tied so strongly to the land and had no way of adapting to this forced foreign way of life, it has been almost wiped off of America. It is then appropriate to use an oppressed people tied to the land and nature of America to help describe African Americans and their history of being tied to the land. Traditionally, though, African Americans have been tied to the land for starkly different reasons than Native Americans. For African Americans being tied to the land has meant, in the past, being physically enslaved to toil the land against their will. But, the book Meridian shows that this bond between African Americans and "the land" is still strong in some instances, despite being spawned by the ignoble institution of slavery. As a child, Meridian Hill, the protagonist of the book, lives with her family on a farm that once was Native American territory. Running through the farm is the Sacred Serpent, a long burial mound in the shape of a snake. The Sacred Serpent housed the remnants of Native Americans that had once lived. While Meridian's brothers considered farming the lowest form of work, she and her father both shared the wonder of nature and of the land that Native Americans once cherished also. At the end of the serpent shaped burial mound, its tail coiled, forming a forty feet deep pit. Meridian would climb inside and have an almost out of body, nature induced experience.
She felt as if she had stepped into another world, into a different kind of air. The green walls began to spin, and her feeling rose to such a high pitch the next thing she knew she was getting up of the ground. She knew she had fainted but she felt neither weakened nor ill. She felt renewed, as from some strange spiritual intoxication. Her blood made warm explosions through her body, and her eyelids stung and tingled.¹
Meridian's father told her that the Native American's had built the coil in the burial mound to give the living some feeling of dying. But Meridian felt that the coil was a way to increase the awareness of being alive while in the ground among the dead. In any case, Meridian, as a black girl during the middle of the twentieth century, shared the awe of the land that Native Americans had felt thousands of years before. The one action of the text that most deeply depicts how Native and African Americans share a bond to the land in the South is when Meridian's father gives the deed to his sixty acres of land to a Native American. "He was a wanderer, a mourner, like her father; she could begin to recognize what her father was by looking at him. Only he wandered physically, with this body, not walking across maps with his fingers as her father did," (48). The man, Walter Longknife, spent most of that summer living on the land, and then when he was ready to move on, he gave the dead back to Meridian's father.
Mr. Longknife and Meridian's father both wandered the land but in their own way. Mr. Hill, being African American, was tied to the land a bit tighter than the Native American man. Mr. Longknife was tied to the land in the sense that the land provided for his way of life. Native Americans had lived off of the land and utilized it to its full extent for centuries without interference until the Europeans decided to conquer North America. The African Americans, on the other hand, formed their roots while enslaved, creating a more confining bond to the land. But, both men, Mr. Hill, and wandered for the same reason, to have a sense of freedom.
Both Native and African Americans were denied that freedom. The book Meridian relates the Native American past to the African Americans struggle for civil rights because in both case each race was denied liberties at the most basic, human level. One day on the farm, three white government officials come and tell Meridian's father that all of his property, which included the Sacred Serpent, was going to be turned into a public park.
When her father went to the county courthouse with his deed, the officials said they could offer only token payment; that, and the warning to stay away from Sacred Serpent Park which, now that it belonged to the public, was of course not open to Colored, (49). The text is clearly alluding to the loss of the Native American's land, but in the context of the prejudice that occurred toward blacks in the South. By relating to the Native American past, the text explains the loss of Mr. Hill's farm as a physical representation of the lack of freedom for African Americans. Mr. Hill's property was originally taken from Native Americans, and now it was being taken from him, a black man. This piece of land was taken away from those who truly appreciated it. The text also relates the physical persecution of both Native and African Americans. During Meridian's adolescence, a house was fire bombed, because it was being used to register black voters. She contemplates what happened:
She lived in this town all her life, but could not have foreseen that the house would be bombed. Perhaps because nothing like this had ever happened before. Not in this town. Or had it? She recalled that the night before she had dreamed of Indians. She had thought she had forgotten about them (70).
Meridian realizes that these violent actions rooted in prejudice were not unlike the plight of the Native American. In this way the text relates more than the loss of land of Native and African Americans; the actual brutality and killing that occurred as Europeans conquered America is very much like the violence that occurred to black people during the civil rights movement. The text also presents a position that is less clear cut. The text implies that those who are the oppressed are also oppressors themselves. While African Americans have a history of being badly mistreated, they are also had a hand in wiping out Native Americans. Meridian's father exemplifies this idea the best in a conversation with his wife.
"We were part of it you know," her father said.
"Part of what?"
"Their disappearance."
"Hah," said her mother, "you might have been, but I wasn't even born.
Besides, you told me how surprised you were to find that some of them had the nerve to fight for the South in the Civil War. That ought to make up for those few black soldiers who rode against Indians in the Western cavalry."
"I never said either side was innocent or guilty, just ignorant. They've been a part of it, we've been a part of it, everybody's been a part of it for a long time, (48-49). As the text brings the issue of the oppressed oppressing others to the surface, a better understanding of African Americans during the nineteen sixties can be realized. Native and African Americans share many similarities, even how members of both parties persecuted the other, as the quote above shows. But, these two races are not identical, especially if violence has been directed at one another. By using the concept that those who have been oppressed are still in a position to oppress others, the text challenges conventional ideas of who is a victim and who is a
villain. The book Meridian does not take sides. It does not say that one race had it worse off, or that one was nobler than the other. The text realizes that the issue of race is a complicated one, where, in the end, persecution is being sent and received in all directions. The use of alluding to the Native American past is important because it provides the reader a reference frame to which the reader can compare the African American position of the time. Without a reference frame, one would have a much more limited view of the topic. Also, because the text does not provide clear villains and victims, a statement about humans is being made, rather than specifically Native and African Americans. The racism and prejudice in the world has existed in all parts of the world for a long time, and the blame lies in all of humanity as a whole, not an individual group. The text makes this clear by referencing the Native American Past. The book is about how humans oppress, how they are oppressed, how they are imperfect, and how they are redeeming.
reduced. The native peoples of America had no concept of owning, selling, or buying land, let alone money itself. Gradually the Native Americans were being killed off, while the survivors were left with less and less land. Because Native American culture was tied so strongly to the land and had no way of adapting to this forced foreign way of life, it has been almost wiped off of America. It is then appropriate to use an oppressed people tied to the land and nature of America to help describe African Americans and their history of being tied to the land. Traditionally, though, African Americans have been tied to the land for starkly different reasons than Native Americans. For African Americans being tied to the land has meant, in the past, being physically enslaved to toil the land against their will. But, the book Meridian shows that this bond between African Americans and "the land" is still strong in some instances, despite being spawned by the ignoble institution of slavery. As a child, Meridian Hill, the protagonist of the book, lives with her family on a farm that once was Native American territory. Running through the farm is the Sacred Serpent, a long burial mound in the shape of a snake. The Sacred Serpent housed the remnants of Native Americans that had once lived. While Meridian's brothers considered farming the lowest form of work, she and her father both shared the wonder of nature and of the land that Native Americans once cherished also. At the end of the serpent shaped burial mound, its tail coiled, forming a forty feet deep pit. Meridian would climb inside and have an almost out of body, nature induced experience.
She felt as if she had stepped into another world, into a different kind of air. The green walls began to spin, and her feeling rose to such a high pitch the next thing she knew she was getting up of the ground. She knew she had fainted but she felt neither weakened nor ill. She felt renewed, as from some strange spiritual intoxication. Her blood made warm explosions through her body, and her eyelids stung and tingled.¹
Meridian's father told her that the Native American's had built the coil in the burial mound to give the living some feeling of dying. But Meridian felt that the coil was a way to increase the awareness of being alive while in the ground among the dead. In any case, Meridian, as a black girl during the middle of the twentieth century, shared the awe of the land that Native Americans had felt thousands of years before. The one action of the text that most deeply depicts how Native and African Americans share a bond to the land in the South is when Meridian's father gives the deed to his sixty acres of land to a Native American. "He was a wanderer, a mourner, like her father; she could begin to recognize what her father was by looking at him. Only he wandered physically, with this body, not walking across maps with his fingers as her father did," (48). The man, Walter Longknife, spent most of that summer living on the land, and then when he was ready to move on, he gave the dead back to Meridian's father.
Mr. Longknife and Meridian's father both wandered the land but in their own way. Mr. Hill, being African American, was tied to the land a bit tighter than the Native American man. Mr. Longknife was tied to the land in the sense that the land provided for his way of life. Native Americans had lived off of the land and utilized it to its full extent for centuries without interference until the Europeans decided to conquer North America. The African Americans, on the other hand, formed their roots while enslaved, creating a more confining bond to the land. But, both men, Mr. Hill, and wandered for the same reason, to have a sense of freedom.
Both Native and African Americans were denied that freedom. The book Meridian relates the Native American past to the African Americans struggle for civil rights because in both case each race was denied liberties at the most basic, human level. One day on the farm, three white government officials come and tell Meridian's father that all of his property, which included the Sacred Serpent, was going to be turned into a public park.
When her father went to the county courthouse with his deed, the officials said they could offer only token payment; that, and the warning to stay away from Sacred Serpent Park which, now that it belonged to the public, was of course not open to Colored, (49). The text is clearly alluding to the loss of the Native American's land, but in the context of the prejudice that occurred toward blacks in the South. By relating to the Native American past, the text explains the loss of Mr. Hill's farm as a physical representation of the lack of freedom for African Americans. Mr. Hill's property was originally taken from Native Americans, and now it was being taken from him, a black man. This piece of land was taken away from those who truly appreciated it. The text also relates the physical persecution of both Native and African Americans. During Meridian's adolescence, a house was fire bombed, because it was being used to register black voters. She contemplates what happened:
She lived in this town all her life, but could not have foreseen that the house would be bombed. Perhaps because nothing like this had ever happened before. Not in this town. Or had it? She recalled that the night before she had dreamed of Indians. She had thought she had forgotten about them (70).
Meridian realizes that these violent actions rooted in prejudice were not unlike the plight of the Native American. In this way the text relates more than the loss of land of Native and African Americans; the actual brutality and killing that occurred as Europeans conquered America is very much like the violence that occurred to black people during the civil rights movement. The text also presents a position that is less clear cut. The text implies that those who are the oppressed are also oppressors themselves. While African Americans have a history of being badly mistreated, they are also had a hand in wiping out Native Americans. Meridian's father exemplifies this idea the best in a conversation with his wife.
"We were part of it you know," her father said.
"Part of what?"
"Their disappearance."
"Hah," said her mother, "you might have been, but I wasn't even born.
Besides, you told me how surprised you were to find that some of them had the nerve to fight for the South in the Civil War. That ought to make up for those few black soldiers who rode against Indians in the Western cavalry."
"I never said either side was innocent or guilty, just ignorant. They've been a part of it, we've been a part of it, everybody's been a part of it for a long time, (48-49). As the text brings the issue of the oppressed oppressing others to the surface, a better understanding of African Americans during the nineteen sixties can be realized. Native and African Americans share many similarities, even how members of both parties persecuted the other, as the quote above shows. But, these two races are not identical, especially if violence has been directed at one another. By using the concept that those who have been oppressed are still in a position to oppress others, the text challenges conventional ideas of who is a victim and who is a
villain. The book Meridian does not take sides. It does not say that one race had it worse off, or that one was nobler than the other. The text realizes that the issue of race is a complicated one, where, in the end, persecution is being sent and received in all directions. The use of alluding to the Native American past is important because it provides the reader a reference frame to which the reader can compare the African American position of the time. Without a reference frame, one would have a much more limited view of the topic. Also, because the text does not provide clear villains and victims, a statement about humans is being made, rather than specifically Native and African Americans. The racism and prejudice in the world has existed in all parts of the world for a long time, and the blame lies in all of humanity as a whole, not an individual group. The text makes this clear by referencing the Native American Past. The book is about how humans oppress, how they are oppressed, how they are imperfect, and how they are redeeming.