When one utters the names James Weldon Johnson and Zora Neal Hurston immediately the image of two of African American civil rights icons enter in to our minds. Very few actually take the time and examine how closely related the two were. Whether through their upbringing or social struggles James Weldon Johnson and Zora Neal Hurston have illustrated a vivid picture of Jim Crow Florida in the course of their autobiographies. They both interpreted the class and gender dynamic in relation to race, in their own unique way.
The class dynamic is a theme quite prevalent throughout the course of Johnson’s autobiography Along This Way. It first appears during his recollection of is childhood. He shows that among the black community in Jacksonville there was a class structure. This idea went against “white’s” belief that the blacks cumulatively were a class. On a social class scale he was brought up that he was superior to the other blacks. It is seen with the education he was taught at......
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