ort their families. The job opportunities for whites simply did not exist for the black community. As a college educated black woman, Anne Moody’s only real career option was to become a teacher in a black school where she would be subject to the will and control of the Uncle Toms in charge. For uneducated blacks, a primary opportunity for self-sufficiency should have been agriculture. It was extremely difficult, however, for blacks to acquire land that was suitable for farming, and when they did, government regulation often kept them from growing as much as white farmers in the counties. These and other employment situations resulted in black communities of families that could barely support themselves.Aside from the opportunities that were denied to African Americans, their day-to-day lives were affected constantly by the attitudes and actions fostered by prejudice. One of the most obvious and deliberate results was fear. Blacks often resisted the Movement for fear of their lives and that of their families. They were constantly forced into undesirable situations for fear of the white man’s power to deny them jobs or destroy their homes.Once fear was instilled in the blacks of a community, the whites were free to take advantage of them in multiple ways. They were rarely paid adequately for the work that they did and were often expected to perform tasks that put their health or lives in danger. Their dependence on whites for income made them vulnerable to physical and mental abuse and often placed their feelings of self worth in serious jeopardy. This further weakened the Movement. When blacks felt that they really were somehow inferior to whites, they lost the passion and the drive that they needed to fight the system. This was a major problem for the older generations who had been closer to slavery and had long since accepted their role in society. Fear had a dual effect on African American relationships and ...
