George Cable, Charles Chestnutt

Racial issues were prevalent in all of these readings. During this time period that surrounds the civil war, you can see the opinions of the authors regarding emancipation and/or the feeling of blacks and mixed races in society.


In the Goophered Grapevine the old slave that sits and tells the story of the old vineyard is obviously used as a stereotype of black Americans in the south. His dialect is very strong, and his grammar is less then on par to the white characters in the story. His story is of deviant slaves that would eat the crop of the vineyard making it difficult for the slave owner to make a profit. The slaves were then cursed on the command of the vineyard owner, not to be able to eat the grapes. When a new slave does eat one of the grapes, he is then cursed and re-cursed to have to eat the vines in order to stay alive. This slave is then sold and re-sold over and over again as a freak show (not directly stated, but that's what it resembles). The negative connotation of the slave shows the feelings of slaves and the reactions of the movers shows little indifference. This is most likely representative of this time.

In The Sheriff's Children the main twist of the story is a conflict which shows the problems many bastard children of slave owners had during this time. Tom is now in trouble for killing an old Civil war hero that the town adores. While we never know if he actually committed this crime, we know that he is doomed to hang by public opinion. The sheriff knows quickly that the young man is his son and leads him to protect him while he is in jail. The story goes on to show that while he probably was innocent, the fact that he was of black descent, he was doomed to hang. He, eventually, is shot in the arm but survives, then chooses to commit suicide as opposed to death of a slave by a hanging or worse.The reader is meant to feel a subtle pity for Tom and the sheriff to both of their actions. The sheriff made cruel decisions as to his son's fate, but the context of his decisions make sense, and the reader understands although probably disagrees.


We as readers can now see the relations between the these racial connections, but at their time of writing, these relations would probably not have been realized. The white readers of the time would most likely have read the stories at face value. It obviously would have been more obvious if the public knew that he was of mixed race.