Lesson 23:No More Cotton Blues

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After dinner, we piled into Uncle Eugene’s Buick and drove to town. He took us to Schenley’s Drugstore for ice cream with all the toppings. We sat at a table near the back, right below a faded sign. My mother read it out loud. “Colored Section,” she said with a streak of anger in her voice. White customers sitting at the counter kept staring at us like we were doing something wrong. “Things any different in Atlanta” my mother asked. “Or does Jim Crow live there, too” “He’s there, Ruby,” my uncle said. “Old Jim’s got white folks thinking the sun rises and sets just for them, and black folks ought to keep to themselves if they want to stay out of trouble.” 15
“But all along Atlanta’s Sweet Auburn Avenue, we got our own businesses. That’s where I got my start. Any time you want to make a change, Sister, you let me know and I’ll help set you up. That’s a promise you can take to the bank.” My father stood up and put on his hat. “We don’t need your promises, Eugene,” he said. “And we surely don’t need your high-sounding talk about things being better in Atlanta. I got a wife and three kids to raise, and working the land is what I know best.” The Settle Uncle Eugene left for Atlanta the next day. A few weeks later my father got called to the plantation office. It was time for the settle. Boone was alone in the office when my father and I walked in. He met us with a thick accounting book in his hands. He showed us the numbers he’d written in neat columns, and then said, “It looks like we’re even again this year, Thomas. I’ll see you in the spring.” My father looked dazed, like he’d been struck with a brick. He didn’t say anything to Boone. He just grabbed the sleeve of my coat and pulled me outside. Snow was falling. We walked home in dead silence. “How’d we do this year, Thomas” my mother asked quietly when she saw him. But he didn’t answer her. He just sat down at the table and put his head in his hands. I’d never seen my father cry before. 16
Page 1 and 2: HOUGHTON MIFFLIN
Page 3: Looking Back I remember the day the
Page 6 and 7: I can still see him riding toward u
Page 8 and 9: Ardell and I glanced at each other.
Page 10 and 11: My brother Kermit had asked me to c
Page 12: house on Sweet Auburn Avenue. He ca
Page 15: He even figured out how many more a
Page 19 and 20: Life in Georgia My uncle helped us
Page 21 and 22: TARGET VOCABULARY confronting conte

Lesson 23:No More Cotton Blues

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