Racial prejudice underlying the jim crow law practices in the deep south revealed in john howard griffin`s black like me - USD Repository
RACIAL PREJUDICE UNDERLYING THE JIM CROW LAW
PRACTICES IN THE DEEP SOUTH REVEALED IN
JOHN HOWARD GRIFFIN’S BLACK LIKE ME
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
ALICE FEBRIANNE
Student Number: 034214039
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2007
A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis
RACIAL PREJUDICE UNDERLYING THE JIM CROW LAW PRACTICES IN THE DEEP SOUTH REVEALED IN JOHN HOWARD GRIFFIN’S BLACK LIKE ME
By
ALICE FEBRIANNE
Student Number: 034214039 Approved by Paulus Sarwoto, S.S., M.A. July 28, 2007.
Advisor Elisa Dwi Wardhani, S.S., M.Hum. July 28, 2007.
Co-advisor
A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis
RACIAL PREJUDICE UNDERLYING THE JIM CROW LAW
PRACTICES IN THE DEEP SOUTH REVEALED IN
JOHN HOWARD GRIFFIN’S BLACK LIKE ME
By
ALICE FEBRIANNE
Student Number: 034214039 Defended before the Board of Examiners on September 26, 2007 and Declared Acceptable
BOARD OF EXAMINERS
Name SignatureChairman : Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M.A. _____________ Secretary : Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M. Hum. _____________ Member : G. Fajar Sasmita Aji, S.S., M.Hum. _____________ Member : Paulus Sarwoto, S.S., M.A. _____________ Member : Elisa Dwi Wardhani, S.S., M.Hum. _____________
Yogyakarta, October 22, 2007 Faculty of Letters
Sanata Dharma University Dean Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M.A.
F or with GOD N othing shall be impossible. (Luke 1 : 37)
This undergraduate thesis is dedicated to
my beloved parents,
my sisters and brother,
my beloved mate,
and those who love and support me.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First, I would like to thank Jesus Christ for His love and kindness. His greatest blessing and miracle has guided me in finishing this thesis.
I would also like to thank Mr. Paulus Sarwoto, S.S., M.A. for his guidance in writing this thesis. I thank him so much for being patient in reading, correcting, and re-reading this thesis. I also thank the co-advisor, Ms. Elisa Dwi Wardhani, S.S., M.Hum. for her suggestions that surely improve this thesis.
My greatest gratitude goes to my beloved parents, Langgeng Cahyono and Nora Siamsuria, and Tante Henny for their supports and prayers; my sisters, Gretha Carolina and Jeannie Stephanie, and my little brother, Ricky Nelson for their supports that pushed me to finish this thesis soon.. I would also thank my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins for their supports, prayers, trusts and love that means a lot to me. My great gratitude also goes to SPM sisters, especially Sr.
Veronique, SPM.
I would thank my beloved mate, Albert for being patient in facing my temper, especially during this thesis making process. I would also thank ce Rita, ko Wawan, and Joe for their supports and their efforts to cheer me up facing these stressful days. I would like to thank my friends, A ching, Dwi, Renzzie, Tika, Poppy, Reni, Tio, Andhika, Margareth, Nina Sing 02, ce Vany, ko Aswin, Bernard, Tatag, E’in, Detty, Cahyadi, Fr. Dimas, Nova, Meta for the lovely friendship we have.
Last but not least, I would thank everyone whose names are not mentioned here, who has helped me finish this thesis. May God bless them.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE .................................................................................................. i APPROVAL PAGE ........................................................................................ ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE ................................................................................... iii MOTTO PAGE ............................................................................................... iv DEDICATION PAGE ..................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .............................................................................. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................ vii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................... viii ABSTRAK ..................................................................................................... ix
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study ..................................................................... 1 B. Problem Formulation ........................................................................... 3 C. Objectives of the Study ........................................................................ 3 D. Definition of Terms ............................................................................. 4 CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies.................................................................... 5 B. Review of Related Theories.................................................................. 7 1. Theories on Character and Characterization ............................. 7 2. Theories on Setting .................................................................. 10 3. Theories on Society ................................................................. 12 4. Theories on Prejudice .............................................................. 16 C. Theoretical Framework ........................................................................ 21 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study............................................................................... 22 B. Approach of the Study.......................................................................... 24 C. Method of the Study ........................................................................... 24 CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS 1. Jim Crow Law Practices Revealed in Black Like Me Through
the Character of Griffin and the Deep South Society ............................ 26 2. Racial Prejudice Underlying the Jim Crow Law Practices in the Deep South as Revealed in Black Like Me ..................................... 38
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION .................................................................... 45
......................................................................................... 49
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ABSTRACT
ALICE FEBRIANNE (2007). Racial Prejudice Underlying the Jim Crow Law
Practices in the Deep South Revealed in John Howard Griffin’s Black Like Me.
Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.This study discusses a work by John Howard Griffin entitled Black Like , which was written in the year of 1959. This book was aimed as an investigative
Me
journalism book since it reflects plainly the period of bitter racism towards the Blacks practiced by the Whites in the Deep South. Therefore based on a clear understanding that this investigative journalism book is clearer in exposing the real condition of the society in that era than any other literary work, the writer chooses John Howard Griffin’s Black Like Me to be discussed further.
In this study, there are two objectives to guide the analysis. First, this study attempts to find out how the Jim Crow Law practices revealed through the character of Griffin and society as setting in Black Like Me. Second, the study is aimed to see how the race prejudice underlying the Jim Crow Law practices revealed in Black
.
Like Me
To do the analysis, the writer did several steps. First, the writer conducts library research in working on the subject. Next, sociocultural-historical approach is applied as a means to analyze the problems. Then, some theories such as theories on character and characterization, theories on setting, theories on society, and theories on prejudice along with the review on Jim Crow Law are also employed to guide the analysis.
The result of this analysis shows that the characterization of Griffin and society as the setting implied the practices of Jim Crow Law as a means of segregation in the Deep South with racial prejudice stood behind its practices. Those practices impacted on the Blacks’ feeling of inferiority. They denied their identity, their negritude, their culture, as a demand to follow the prejudices Whites put on Blacks.
ABSTRAK
ALICE FEBRIANNE (2007). Racial Prejudice Underlying the Jim Crow Law
Practices in the Deep South Revealed in John Howard Griffin’s Black Like Me.
Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.Skripsi ini mengupas sebuah karya dari John Howard Griffin yang berjudul
Black Like Me , yang ditulis pada tahun 1959. Buku yang dimaksudkan sebagai jurnal
investigasi ini menggambarkan dengan gamblang masa-masa pahit merebaknya rasialisme oleh masyarakat kulit putih terhadap orang-orang kulit hitam. Mengingat buku jurnalisme investigasi ini dapat memberikan gambaran yang lebih jelas tentang kondisi yang sebenar-benarnya mengenai jaman tersebut dibandingkan karya-karya literatur lainnya, maka penulis memilih Black Like Me karya John Howard Griffin ini untuk dikupas lebih dalam.
Dalam skripsi ini terdapat dua pokok bahasan yang akan mengarah ke sebuah analisa nantinya. Pertama-tama, dalam skripsi ini akan dipaparkan mengenai penerapan dari Jim Crow Law yang dialami oleh sang tokoh, Griffin dan lingkungan dalam Black Like Me. Kedua, skripsi ini akan menganalisa bagaimana Black Like mengungkap bahwa prasangka terhadap ras tertentu mendasari diterapkannya Jim
Me tersebut. Crow Law Dalam melakukan analisanya, penulis menggunakan beberapa tahapan.
Yang pertama, penulis melakukan studi pustaka. Kemudian sebuah pendekatan sosiokultural-historikal diterapkan untuk menganalisa permasalahannya. Akhirnya, beberapa teori seperti teori tokoh dan penokohan, teori seting, teori tentang masyarakat, dan teori tentang prasangka disertai dengan tinjauan tentang Jim Crow
Law juga diterapkan untuk mendukung analisa tersebut.
Hasil dari analisa tersebut menunjukkan bahwa penokohan Griffin dan lingkungan sebagai seting mengungkap Jim Crow Law sebagai alat dari praktik pengucilan orang kulit hitam di Deep South dimana prasangka terhadap ras tertentu berada di balik dari penerapannya. Penerapan tersebut berdampak pada perasaan orang-orang kulit hitam bahwa mereka memang lebih rendah derajatnya, sehingga mereka mengingkari jati diri, kepribadian, dan kebudayaan mereka sendiri sebagai seorang kulit hitam dan bertingkah laku seperti halnya yang telah disangkakan oleh masyarakat kulit putih terhadap mereka.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Literature is not merely a creative creation of an author when expressing his
mind and idea. Literature also conveys important messages of a society. When there is a society, then there would be a literature work follows. Then, literature and society is a unity. Social condition, such as culture, custom, problem, or conflict in the society can be a great inspiration for an author to create a literary work. Since literature reflects the society, literature can be said as a media that recorded the situation of a society in a particular time then exposes it to the new generation.
Therefore, the new generation could experience the situation and thought happening in that certain setting of time and place, as stated by Graham Little in his Approach
to Literature :
Literature is the principle element of a culture. It contains the record of values, thought, problem, and conflict, that are transmitted either through written and spoken words. With such acknowledgement, literature stands up as a tool to pass the experience from one generation to the next. Literature, then functions as a representation of the situation and thoughts happening in certain setting of time and place (1963: 1).
Since Wellek and Warren have stated in their Theory of Literature that “literature represents life and life is a social reality” (1956: 94), the reader of a literary work may know afterwards what happened in the past or the era when that work was written. Furthermore, the readers may find out how the real condition of that society through the reflection of the story itself. The literary work itself then can
2 be used as a social or historical record of human life. Wellek and Warren have also stated as follows:
The artist conveys truth and necessarily, also historical and social truths. Literature is really not a reflection of the social process, but the essence, the abridgement and summary of all history (1956: 95).
It is also written in the book that readers may come to a conclusion that trough his work, an author wants to deliver such awareness of specific social situation. In other words, the reader may get the social criticism that an author wants to say trough the work (1956: 95).
, which was written in the year of 1959 reflects plainly the
Black Like Me period of bitter racism towards the Blacks practiced by the Whites in South America.
Therefore based on a clear understanding that this investigate journalism book is clearer in exposing the real condition of the society in that era than any other literary work, the writer chooses John Howard Griffin’s Black Like Me to be discussed further.
This book, in the writer’s perspective, is a success in conveying the real condition of a society and delivering the atmosphere of what the author had experienced. The form of dairy shows his integrity on his own feeling which reflects the Blacks’ on the racism practiced in the society. Griffin experienced everything Blacks had those days, from the difficulty of finding a restroom in New Orleans to the gripping atmosphere of Montgomery, Alabama in the era of Martin Luther King, Jr. and he let the world know what exactly happened inside what people called as racism and the segregation - the Jim Crow Law practices -.
3 Eric Hass argues in his Socialism: World Without Race-Prejudice about the
Whites’ view toward Blacks (Negroes) and the prejudice behind any treatments they did toward Blacks as: The Negro is unemployed — therefore he is indolent. The Negro is forced into arduous, menial jobs — therefore, he hasn’t the capacity to perform operations requiring intelligence and skill. The Negro is compelled to live in black ghettos — therefore he brings down property values. The Negro’s life is shortened by malnutrition and extreme poverty — therefore he succumbs more readily to disease and is dangerous to be around. And so on (2006: 3-4). Therefore, the topic chosen will explore the racial prejudice that triggered by the Whites’ view toward Blacks on the rise of Jim Crow Law practices in South
America society which resulted in the suffering of racism and segregation experienced by the Blacks in John Howard Griffin’s Black Like Me.
B. Problem Formulation 1.
How are Jim Crow Law practices revealed in character of Griffin and society in Black Like Me?
2. How is race prejudice underlying Jim Crow Law practices revealed in
Black Like Me ?
C. Objectives of the Study
According to the problem formulation above, there are two aims that can be obtained from this study. First, this study is attempts to find out how the Jim Crow Law practices revealed in character of Griffin and the Deep South society
4 in Black Like Me. Second, the study is aimed to see how the race prejudice underlying the Jim Crow Law practices revealed in Black Like Me.
D. Definition of Terms
1. Prejudice
According to The New Encyclopedia Britanica prejudice is: Adverse or hostile attitude toward a group or its individual member, generally without just grounds or before sufficient evidence. It is characterized by irrational stereotyped beliefs, that tell more about the bearer of the attitude than about the persons who are objects of prejudice (1983: 190).
2. Jim Crow Encarta Webster’s College Dictionary defines Jim Crow as the practice of
discriminating against Black people, especially by operating systems of segregation (2005: 775).
4. Society
According to Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, society is a part of community that is a unit distinguishable by particular aims or standards or living or conduct: a social circle or a group of social circles having a clearly marked identity (1983: 1119).
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies
was written by a White noted journalist, John Howard
Black Like Me
Griffin. It was first published in 1961 and still published by Wing Press in 2004. In 1964, a film version of Black Like Me starring James Whitmore was produced. John Howard Griffin was concerned about the practice of racism in America, especially South America. Griffin's books include The Devil Rides Outside (1952); Nuni (1956); Land of the High Sky (1959); The Church and the Black Man (1969); and A
(1977). He published photography in Jacques Maritain: Homage
Time to be Human
in Words and Pictures (1974) and Twelve Photographic Portraits (1973) and wrote
several books on Thomas Merton: A Hidden Wholeness (1970), The Hermitage
Journals (1981), and Follow the Ecstasy: Thomas Merton, the Hermitage Years,
(1983). Griffin also wrote syndicated columns for the International News
1965-1968 Service and King Features from 1957 until 1960. www.sparknotes.com counts that since its publication, Griffin’s book, Black
has sold 10 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 14
Like Me
languages. While in http://www.wingspress.com/Titles/Black_Like_Me.html it was written that St. Petersburg Times commented “This is the human story . . . a book about simple justice. It suggests that any white man who thinks the Negro in the South is secure and contented should try being one.” Specifically, the site also provide a comment from an English professor Claire Garcia of Colorado College in
6 Colorado Springs said in a recent interview that Griffin's book was "a significant historical/cultural phenomenon," and "important for its primary audience -- white people living outside the South who had little experience with black people or Jim Crow laws."
The same site also contained Robert Bonazzi’s argument while answered a question on why Black Like Me as "My initial fascination was with the way it was done. It reads like a novel. As a reader I was immersed in his immersion (in the black community). We're in on the secret. That's why it touches so many readers." Robert Bonazzi was Griffin’s admirer and the writer of the ‘afterword’ part in Black Like
. He was the man who subsequently published the book Man in the Mirror: John
Me Howard Griffin and the Story of Black Like Me
His admire toward Griffin was simply shown in his words below: "I think its impact on the white community has been significant," Bonazzi continues. "Griffin always said, 'I don't speak for black people. I speak for myself.' He made a pact with Martin Luther King to go into white communities and do his work there, because he said they're the ones that needed to be illuminated to the realities" (http://www.angelfire.com/or/sociologyshop/BLM.html#blm).
Those reviews and the last line of Langston Hughes poem "Dream Variations" which the author used as the title of his work to describe the entire story encouraged the writer to look deeper on how exactly the Jim Crow Law practices experienced by Griffin and the society depicted in Black Like Me. Later on the writer will reveal the race prejudice that underlying the Jim Crow Law practices in Black
.
Like Me
7
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theories on Character and Characterization
In his book, Understanding Unseen, Murphy gives nine ways to make the character of the story understandable.
a.
Personal description.
The author can describe a person’s appearance and clothes as a clue to present or describe the characteristics of the author’s characters.
In this way, the author gives a description of the character’s physical appearance directly. The personality itself can be reflected from the external appearance or character whether in good or bad appearance. Those personal descriptions always help the readers both to visualize the author’s character and to understand his characteristics, even such obvious physical attributes as clothes, young, old, beauty, and ugliness should be taken in this way.
b.
Character as seen by others The character is not described directly by the author. Instead he uses other characters’ eyes and opinions to help us draw the description of that character. The readers get as if it were a reflected image.
c.
Speech The author can give the readers an insight into the character of one of the persons in the book through what that person says. Whenever a person speaks, whenever he is in conversation with the others, whenever he puts
8 forward an opinion or makes utterances, actually he is giving the readers some clues to his character.
d.
Past life By letting the readers learn something about what the character had experienced in his past, at the same time the author delivering some clues to all events that have helped to shape a person’s character. This can be done by direct comment from the author. The fact that what happened in the character’s past life will influence the development of the character’s personality. The past life of the character is main factor, which shape the character’s personality. The character absorbs everything that he learns from his experiences in the past.
e.
Conversation of other characters The author can also give us clues to a person’s character through the conversations of other people and the things that they say about him. People do talk about other people and it can gives the readers clues to the character of the person they talked about.
f.
Their reaction How people react toward various situations and events can also give the reader clues to characterize a character. Here the characters are described by the author through the character’s reaction to the various events they faced. Every reaction is describing the characteristics of the character, because reaction is a result from person judgement based on their knowledge and objective reason.
9 g.
Direct comments The author can describe or comment on the person’s directly. It helps us to find out the information about the character easily. Probably the description is provided at the beginning of the story when we have not been quite familiar with the personality as accurate as the writer intends to, which also means that the possibility of misinterpretation can be decreased.
h.
Thoughts The author can give us direct knowledge of what the person is thinking about. In this respect, the author is omniscient; he is able to do what we can not do in the real life. He can tell us what different people in his work are thinking about. The readers then will be in a privileged position. i.
Mannerisms The author can describe a person’s mannerism, habits on idiosyncrasies which may also tell us something about his character. Through the person’s mannerism and habit, the readers can understand better, because every manner and habit are resulted from people’s rational thinking which is believed as the description of the person’s character (1972: 116-118).
Those are some ways in which an author makes the readers aware of the personalities and the characters of the people that he writes about in his book. Sylvan Barnet in Literature for Composition adds Murphy’s idea that character can be interpreted by: a.
What the character says
10 b.
What the character does c. What other characters say about the character d.
What other characters do (1988: 71-72).
Moreover, there is another theory to reveal the character’s characterization written by Barnet, Berman and Burto in the same book, Literature for Composition (1988: 71-72) which said that the character’s characterization can be seen from the characters themselves said (think, if the author express their thought), what the characters do, what the characters say about them and the last is what the author says about them.
While according to Abrams in his book A Glossary of Literary Terms, characterization could be presented in two ways: First is “showing (dramatic method), the author merely presents his characters talking and acting and leaves the reader to infer the motives and dispositions lay behind what they say and do.” Second is “telling, the author himself intervenes authoratively in order to describe and often to evaluate the motives and disposal qualities of his character” (1981: 21).
2. Theories on Setting Setting is one of important points that construct the story in a literary work.
Setting becomes more important in this study since this study deals with historical events. Therefore, it is important to understand what setting is and how setting works to support this study.
M.H. Abrams in his book A Glossary of Literary Terms gives the definition
11 of setting:
The setting of a narrative or dramatic work is the general locale and historical time in which it's action occurs; the setting of an episode or scene within a work is particular physical location in which it takes place (1981:175).
Therefore, seen from the quotation above, the setting of a literary work can be divided into three components, they are general locale which means location, historical time, and social circumstance (society).
According to Holman and Harmon in A Handbook of Literature, setting refers to “physical, and sometimes spiritual, background against which action of narrative (novel, drama, short story, poem) takes place.” They mention that there are four elements making up the setting as follows:
First, the actual geographical location, its topography, scenery, and such physical arrangements as the location of the windows and doors in a room. Second, the occupation and daily manner of living of the characters. Third, the time or period in which the action takes place, for example epoch in history or season of the year. Fourth, the general environment of the characters, for example, religion, mental, moral, social, and emotional condition which the people in the narrative move (1986: 465) Another expert, William Kenney in How to Analyze Fiction states that setting is composed by some elements. They are: 1)
The actual geographical location including topography, scenery and even the details of a room's interior, 2)
The occupation and modes of day-to-day existence of the characters, 3)
The time or period in which the action takes place, 4)
The religious, moral, intellectual social and emotional environment of the characters (1966: 45).
12 The first element points out the nature, including a detail object where plot occurs. Human behaviour, interrelation on one to each other, dogma, belief, and perspective of people are included in the second element. Third element deals with the time when the story happened. The last element indicates the social setting of the story.
In short, there are two kinds of setting based on Kenney’s definition: (1) setting that people live in it, and (2) setting that people live with it which its existence grow together with human existence.
3. Theories on Society
According to Verne S. Weedlun and Golda M. Crowford in their book The
Man in Society , society is social being men express their nature by creating and
recreating an organization which guides and controls their behaviour in myriad way.This organization, society liberates and limits the activities of men, setup standard (values, norm, and law) for the member to follow and maintain. Society is a system of usage and procedures, of authority and mutual aid of many groups and divisions, control of men behaviour and of liberties. It is the web of social relationship.
If there is relationship between people and society, each of this is affected by the existence of the other. Their relationship is not social one. Their relationship is not in any way determined by mutual awareness. Without mutual awareness and social recognition, there is no social relationship, no society because society is exist only where social being “behave” toward one another in ways determined by their recognition of one another, as a result of the people awareness toward their needs.
Society is also a medium which transmitted values from one generation to
13 the next through the socialization process and interaction between each member of the society. Through those two processes, hopefully that the members of society will learn and apply it to their environment and behaviour in which elicits a response of esteem, further this relationship depicts that human beings would have a sense of belonging. There would be no social systems if there were no sense of community or belonging together and no co-operative undertaking by men (1956: 13-14).
Erich Fromm stated in his book The Sane Society (1955: 20-69) two types of society, which are: healthy society and unhealthy society. In healthy society, everyone gives a chance or opportunity to the others to develop their maturity and their love. A society, which does not give opportunity for the people to develop their maturity and their capacity to love, is a sign of mental illness; meanwhile that mental health is achieved if a society give opportunity for men to develop their maturity, as stated below:
A healthy society furthers man’s capacity to love his fellow men, to work creatively, to develop his reason and objectively, to have a sense of self which is based on the experience of his own productive powers. A healthy society is also corresponds to the needs of man-not necessarily to what he feels to be his needs, because even the most pathological aims can be felt subjectively as that which the person wants most; but to what his needs are objectively, as they can be ascertained by the study of man (1955: 20).
In the healthy society there is a universal criterion for mental health which is valid for the human race, and according to which the state of health of each society can be judged.
Mental health is characterized by the ability to love, and to create, by a sense of identity based on one’s experience of self as the subject and agent of one’s power by the grasp of reality inside and outside of ourselves, that is, by the development of objectivity and reason (1955: 69).
14 While unhealthy society goes to the other side, it refers to the social disorganization where people do not have their right as human beings, they are considered as an instrument to achieve the goal. As Erich Fromm’s The Sane Society states:
An unhealthy society is one which creates mutual hostility, distrust, which transforms man into an instrument of use and exploitation for others, which deprives him of a sense of self, except inasmuch as he submits to others or becomes an automaton (1955: 73).
According to the theories, society without any norms and human right is kind of insane society, because in this society, norms, values, and law are considered as informal ways of life-just the primitive people did-with social disorganization as the result.
The disorganized nature of life rises from the effects of poverty, anonymity, overcrowding absence of “root” or ties to the community consequences of these condition are higher rates of crime, mental illness, disease, family instability, exploitation, and abuses for the others.
Besides the quality of the society itself, there are several values follows the existence of society, namely values of individual and values of society as Milton’s
Human Behaviour in Organization explained:
They are the values of individual; individual welfare, freedom, opportunity, self-realization, and human dignity, and values of society; social welfare, the good life, culture, civilization, order, and justice (1981: 45).
Since this study also concerns about motivation related to the society, then the theory Abraham Maslow says in his Organizational Behaviour that the most well known theory of motivation is hierarchy of needs theory is needed. These needs are:
15
1. Bodily needs: includes hunger, thirst, sex, and others.
2. Safety: includes security and protection from physical and emotional harm.
3. Social emotion: includes affection, belonging, acceptance, and friendship.
4. Esteem: internal esteem factors such as self-respect, achievements, and external esteem factors such as status, recognition, and attention.
5. Self-actualization: the inner personal drive to become what one is capable of becoming; includes growth, achieving one’s potential, and self-fulfilment (1979: 206).
6. Theories on Prejudice
The term prejudice refers primarily to a judgement or preconception reached before the relevant information has been collected or examined and therefore base on inadequate or even imaginary evidence. Prejudice also involves an attitude for or against, the ascription of positive or negative values, an affective, or feeling, component. Furthermore, it is stated that “usually there is a readiness to express in action the judgement and feeling which we experience, to behave in a manner which reflects our acceptance or rejection of others (called conative, or behavioural aspect of prejudice)” (Sills, 1968: 432).
Allport in Social Experience: an Introduction to Sociology states that prejudice refers to attitude of aversion and hostility toward the member of group simply because they belong to it and so are presumed to have the objectionable
16 qualities that are ascribed to it. Prejudice is a state of mind, a feeling, opinion or disposition. Sociologist Herbert Blumer notes four feelings typically characterize dominant members: 1.
Sense that they are superior to member of the minority group.
2. A feeling that minority members are but their nature different and alien.
3. A sense that dominant-group member have a proprietary claim on privilege, power, and prestige.
4. A fear and suspicious that members of minority have designs on dominant-group benefit. Ion this respect, prejudice frequently reflects a sense of “group position” (Zanden, 1988: 258).
According to Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary, prejudice follows these several implications. That prejudice is a kind of suspicious, intolerance, or irrational hatred of other races, creeds, regions, or occupations. Prejudice also produces injury or harm that is resulting from some judgement or action of others.
Prejudice also implies a preconceived and unreasonable judgement or opinion, usually an unfavourable one marked as by suspicious, fear, or hatred (1974: 1420).
In the book Encyclopedia of Psychology which is edited by Raymond J. Corsin, it is stated more specifically that social scientists view prejudice as the possession of negative attitudes targeted as members of some particular group (religious, racial, ethnic, political). The attitudes of prejudice give rise to negative or unfavourable evaluations of individuals seen as belonging to that group. The perception that one belongs to certain group is precipitating factor in prejudicial
17 feelings, not the actual attributes or behaviours of person being judged. The term stereotype has come to designate network or clusters of such beliefs and expectations. At the basis of all stereotypes is the assumption that all those who belong to specific category or group, such as ethnic, religious, race, political, or any other classification, manifest similar behaviours and posses similar attitudes. Individual who are prejudiced against specific groups will tend to experience intense negative feelings when they meet these groups, either directly or indirectly (1994: 110).
Some theories serve as explanations of the cause of prejudice. La Farge roughly divided emotional and mental factors that are mistaken for legitimate motives by those who practice race prejudice. The first factor is economic
, which plays a large part in prejudice. “Prejudice is roused against a race
motivation because there is a fear that jobs held by the dominant race will be lost” (1943: 177).
Besides the fear of losing their jobs, the dominant race also uses prejudice as a . ”Negro sociologist put this bluntly in saying
means to exploit non-dominant race
that a great deal of what is termed racial prejudice originates simply in the desire for cheap labour” (1943: 177).
The other factor is the maintenance of social status, not only by condemnation of the less privileged body of citizens, but also by cultivating the approbation of the privileged group (1943: 177). The last factor is customs and
stereotyped ways of thinking and acting . These take shape in expressions as well as
in giving more occasions to more prejudice (1943: 178).18
5. Review on Jim Crow Law
The African Americans or Blacks life in South America in 1950s was all about what they called as Jim Crow Law. Jim Crow Law was the name of the racial caste system which operated primarily in southern and border states, between 1877 and the mid-1960s. Jim Crow Law was more than an anti-Black laws; it was a way of life. Under Jim Crow Law, Blacks belonged to the status of second class citizens. Jim Crow Law represented the legitimization of anti-Black racism.
Publics were poisoned by the excessive idea of superiority and inferiority between Black and White. Newspaper and magazine writers routinely referred to Blacks as niggers, coons, and darkies; and worse, their articles provoked anti-Black stereotypes. Even children's games portrayed Blacks as inferior beings. All major institutions reflected and supported the oppression of Blacks.
The Jim Crow Law was under girded by the following beliefs or rationalizations: Whites were superior to Blacks in all important ways, including but not limited to intelligence, morality, and civilized behavior; sexual relations between Blacks and Whites would produce a mongrel race which would destroy America; treating Blacks as equals would encourage interracial sexual unions; any activity which suggested social equality encouraged interracial sexual relations; if necessary, violence must be used to keep Blacks at the bottom of the racial hierarchy (http//www.nps.gov/malu/documents/jim crowlaws.htm).
The same site also provides the rules in Jim Crow Law practiced at that certain era: a.
A Black male could not offer his hand (to shake hands) with a White male because it implied being socially equal. Obviously, a Black male could not offer his hand or any other part of his body to a White woman, because he risked being accused of rape.
19 b.
Blacks and Whites were not supposed to eat together. If they did eat together, Whites were to be served first, and some sort of partition was to be placed between them.
c.
Under no circumstance was a Black male to offer to light the cigarette of a White female -- that gesture implied intimacy.
d.
Blacks were not allowed to show public affection toward one another in public, especially kissing, because it offended Whites.
e.
Jim Crow etiquette prescribed that Blacks were introduced to Whites, never Whites to Blacks. For example: "Mr. Peters (the White person), this is Charlie (the Black person), that I spoke to you about." f. Whites did not use courtesy titles of respect when referring to Blacks, for example, Mr., Mrs., Miss., Sir, or Ma'am. Instead, Blacks were called by their first names. Blacks had to use courtesy titles when referring to Whites, and were not allowed to call them by their first names.
g.
If a Black person rode in a car driven by a White person, the Black person sat in the back seat, or the back of a truck.
h.
White motorists had the right-of-way at all intersections.
Stetson Kennedy, the author of Jim Crow Guide, also offered these simple rules that Blacks were supposed to observe in conversing with Whites:
1. Never assert or even intimate that a White person is lying.
2. Never impute dishonorable intentions to a White person.
3. Never suggest that a White person is from an inferior class.
20
4. Never lay claim to, or overly demonstrate, superior knowledge or intelligence.
5. Never curse a White person.
6. Never laugh derisively at a White person.
7. Never comment upon the appearance of a White female (1990: 116-117).
When most people think of Jim Crow Law they think about the practices that excluded Blacks from public transport and facilities, juries, jobs, and neighborhoods.
Jim Crow states passed statutes severely regulating social interactions between the races. Jim Crow signs were placed above water fountains, door entrances and exits, and in front of public facilities. There were separate hospitals for Blacks and Whites, separate prisons, separate public and private schools, separate churches, separate cemeteries, separate public restrooms, and separate public accommodations. In most instances, the Black facilities were grossly inferior -- generally, older, less-well-kept. In other cases, there were no Black facilities -- no Coloured public restroom, no public beach, no place to sit or eat (http//www.nps.gov/malu/documents/jim crowlaws.htm).