Voices Of The Bayou Analysis

The piece in Voices of the Bayou I chose is “Love is Love” by Kelly, a woman who grew up in a small country town in Livonia, Louisiana. This piece was specifically to inform others about racism, how it affected her life growing up and how it is now still a problem in the world. Also, she goes into detail about how she chose to be her own person and stand out from the racism that went on in her family. She then further explains that she believes in equality and everyone should be treated the same no matter the color of the skin. In this piece, she shares a time in her life when she was younger and racism occurred. As stated in the beginning, Kelly grew up in Livonia, Louisiana; in an all-white neighborhood where everyone knew everybody.
As for school, it was different she attended a school with other races. She had friends that were black and white, and she never looked at race as an issue. Going into high school, she had a crush on a football player at the school that was a black guy. They always talk and text but only hung out during school hours. Her parents found out that she was dating a black guy, her father was ok with anything that made her happy, but her mother on the other hand never knew how true it was. So, there was a fair in town and they decided to meet there. Her mother took her and they agreed upon a pick-up time. Later, her mom returned and saw her with the guy and was furious. She grabbed her by her arm and told her they were leaving. Going home her mother fussed at her the whole time using foul language and the n-word. Her mother told her that she wasn’t allowed to do anything else and that she ruined it because she caught her with a black guy. She then goes on to say that her mother was stuck on the beliefs of her father and that her mother told her that she will be disowned by her grandfather if he was to find out. His side of the family was very racist and she never knew why. After her mom still brought up the situation and she was tired of hearing about it because she never looked at it as an issue. Additionally, she states that she married a black man in 2004 and conceived one of three biracial children and now stay in an integrated neighborhood where her kids play with everyone.
In the end, she goes on to talk about 37-year-old Alton Sterling that was held down and shot several times by a police officer here in Baton Rouge, La.
After she says that “Black people are much more likely to be killed by police than their white peers. That sounds ridiculous, but it is based on facts.” She never thought that anything like this would have resided in her hometown. Finally, she says that racism is still alive, especially here in Louisiana and “this problem is not completely due to the whites either, my state has just traded in their KKK robes for police uniforms, agency officials, and politicians. This is so sad but true. We are all God’s children, so why should we be at war with one another because of differences? Let’s all get-together, assist each other, and succeed in life. We need to not let racism tear us apart. The diversity here can be a source of strength. The history is great; the food is terrific, but many people seem to think a little more melanin makes one race superior to another.”
The author was very successful in proving her point about the racism going on in the world. She first proved a point by telling her story because she is admitting that racism is something, and how she knows that it is. Her purpose was to inform people that racism is something and if someone that is young with a very racist family can overlook those things her family did, then she knows that people now can start to overlook t what happened in the
past.
Secondly, she made a statement saying “The history is great; the food is terrific, but many people seem to think a little more melanin makes one race superior to another.” Here she is saying no one is better than the other and just because someone has a different tone of skin doesn’t mean they are less than the next.
Yes, Louisiana has a great history and the food is great, but the racism is not because we all still need to be one and not treat anyone differently. She also said “Racism is alive and well throughout the South, especially here in Louisiana…. Louisiana is racism at its worst.” She knows that Louisiana is a very racist state, and if we continue to treat each other as if we are different it will
continue.
I chose this piece in Voices of the Bayou because it was my favorite out of all of them. I agree with everything she said and spoke about. The main reason that I truly agreed with is when she stood out and was different from what her family did and how they were. What she did was very brave although she knew the consequences that may occur. I agreed with this statement her point was that everyone should be treated equal no matter what the situation was. I feel that no matter what the situation was she stood to be her own person.
The second statement I agreed with is when she talked about the Alton Sterling shooting that went on here in Baton Rouge, La, and she stated “Black people are much more likely to be killed by police than their white peers. That sounds ridiculous, but it is based on facts.” I highly agreed with this statement because with everything that has been going on you very seldom hear about a police killing a person that’s Caucasian. Just as she said it does sound crazy, but it’s the truth. I feel that this saying was one of her strengths because if you were to search the internet, you will see that majority black people have been killed by police officers within the last year.
In conclusion, racism is still alive, just as Kelly said. Everyone needs to be able to get together as one and put this racist thing behind us. We all are a child of God, and we all need to not think that one race is better than the other and move on. Once all of this is put behind us the world shall be a better place.