A Long Walk Home

The Long Walk Home

Being treated equally in the United States has always been a constant issue. Many people have suffered through being discriminated against. From having slaves work to survive during the 1600’s, all the way to the Montgomery Bus Boycott in the 1950’s lead by Martin Luther King Jr, African Americans have never been at peace. Discrimination has a big role in The Long Walk Home movie directed by Richard Pierce. A family of 5 living in tight quarters have to struggle with constantly being harassed. It is hard enough trying to sustain a good life for her family, but main character, Odessa Cotter also has to worry about transportation to work and the safety of her three children. She is responsible for many things. Luckily, Odessa makes an ally. Her boss, Miriam Thompson, decides that she can pick Odessa up every morning without her husband knowing. This is a big risk for the wife of a business man to take jeopardizing his career and even their marriage. The director of The Long Walk Home uses the African American characters sense of responsibility to show that the discrimination against them was unjustified. ` Living during a time period such as the one Odessa Cotter and her family is forced to live in must be difficult. Discrimination was never lifted off of any of the African Americans shoulders, especially those who were forced to work with whites everyday of their lives. Odessa Cotter and many other black women had the job of being a care taker for the children of many white families. They were responsible for showing up to work everyday, on time, while maintaining a stable life for their own children. Even though Odessa Cotter and many other women were proven responsible they were still discriminated against. Odessa Cotter felt the need to participate in the bus boycott even though it was exhausting. Toward the end of the movie, 50 white men ganged up on nearly 30 African American women who participated in the boycott. Although 50,000 boycotted the buses in Montgomery, it was these women who took it the hardest in The Long Walk Home. The discrimination against these people was lacking justification and was clearly unfair. The Long Walk Home proves that you can be hard working and responsible, but cruel people can still stand in your way to freedom.

To participate in the Montgomery Bus Boycott must have been a nightwear. Many people were harassed for doing nothing wrong. Life for the African Americans was hard, but they never gave up. “On December 20, 1956 , under Supreme Court order, the Negro citizens of Montgomery, for the first time in history, rode on city buses and sat where they wanted. The boycott has been won.” This statement said at the end of the movie proves that the African Americans had it rough but they won the battle. The Long Walk Home proves that you can be doing nothing wrong but still be discriminated against.