The Role of Preachers in the Afro American Community
After Abraham Lincoln assassination, the discrimination was growing faster and faster in the south area. Because of their economic plight and the
widespread violence directed against them, many black people sought to improve their status through migration. In 1900 nearly nine-tenths of the blacks in the
United States were in the South, the vast majority of them lived in the rural areas. The migration took several forms: rural blacks sought safety in the relative
anonymity of cities, Southern blacks moved North, and many blacks moved to countries in Africa. Because of their economic plight, the absence of skills, and
discrimination elsewhere in the United States, most blacks remained in the rural South.
The community of Ruby is a community of black people who live in the South. They isolate themselves in order to avoid discrimination from white
people. Steward Morgan as one of the new father in Ruby strictly rejects the presence of white people in Ruby. This situation happens when a white man gets
lost in Ruby and he asks for help in Anna Fleetwood Store. After a white, a station wagon drove up and parked so close to the store;
both Misner and Anna could see the fever in the baby‟s blue eyes. The mother held the child over her shoulder and stroked its yellow hair. The
driver, a city- dressed man in his forties, got out and pushed open Anna‟s
door. “How you all doing?” He smiled.
“Fine and you?” “Look like I‟m lost…
Misner followed to give him directions. “Who all is that?” asked Steward.
“Just some lost folks.” Anna handed him a thirty-two-ounce tin of Blue Boy.
“Lost folks or lost whites?” “Oh, Steward, please.”
“Big difference, Anna girl. Big. Right, Reverend?” Misner was just stepping back in.
“They get lost like everybody else,” said Anna. “Born lost. Take over the world and still lost. Right, Reverend?”
“You just contradicted yourself.” Anna laughed. “God has one people, Steward. You know that.” Misner rubbed his hands,
then blew on them Morrison 122-123.
The past history of black people seems to be bitter for Steward. Black people know that the white people sell them as a commodity. This pain will not
disappear but Anna and Misner realize that everything is changing. Since Ruby is an isolated community, the members try hard to keep the
purity of their Negro blood. In the novel, there are two big communities: Ruby and the Convent. The two communities have a different way of life. Ruby is a
puritan community which always keeps the moral values in their daily life. On the contrary, the Convent is
a community of “unwanted” people. Each of the members has their own “negative” history. Most of people go to the Convent to
get shelter and protection. They think that convent is the most peaceful place on Earth Morrison 182.
People in Ruby, especially Steward and Deacon Morgan as the most influential people in Ruby, think that self isolating will keep them beyond the
white law. That is why they think that they can do everything to protect the community of Ruby from every intruder. That is their motivation, not letting the
past history happens again. Freedmen who stood tall in 1889 dropped to their knees in 1934 and were
stomach-crawling by 1948. That is why they are her in this Convent. To make sure it never happens again. That nothing inside or out rots the one
all-black town worth the pain Morrison 5. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
The nine people think that from the beginning when the town is founded they know isolation does not guarantee safety Morrison 12. They have to do
something in a form of action although it is a cruel thing. This point of view is different from Dovey Morgan
‟s point of view. It is true that Ruby gets their freedom from the slavery but they must be aware that
white people always watch them. Although freedom is in their hand for some black people, maintaining their freedom becomes the most difficult task to do.
There are some attempts from the Whites to drag the free black people into slaves again.
Dovey has watched her husband destroy something in himself for thirty years. The more he gained, the less he became. Now he may be ruining
everything. Had twenty-five years of rampant success confused him? Did he think that because they lived away from white law they were beyond it?
Morrison 287.
Once again, Ruby gets its second chance because the evidence, the dead bodies,
has disappeared when someone tries to find them. At the end of this story, this massacre becomes the trigger of psychological changing of the nine men.