The Watsons Go to Birmingham: 1963
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| The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 | |
| Author | Christopher Paul Curtis |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | none |
| Genre(s) | Young Adult |
| Publisher | Delacorte Press |
| Publication date | 1995 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 210 pages |
| ISBN | ISBN 0385321759 |
The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 is a 1995 book written by Christopher Paul Curtis about an African American family living in Flint, Michigan who go to their relative's home in Birmingham, Alabama in the year 1963, hence the title. The book was Curtis' first novel, and received a Newbery Honor. The book is based on the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.
Contents |
[edit] Characters
Kenneth Bernard Watson can be considered the narrator of this story. Kenny is a smart kid who doesn't let stuff get to him, and is the main character. When he can, he enjoys making fun of his older brother, Byron. This doesn't happen often though. Kenny is 10 and in the 4th grade. He considers his brother, Byron, to be the "GOD" of Clark Elementry School (the school where Kenny and Byron go to). Throughout the book Kenny faces friendship troubles, prejudice scenarios, and some very sad times. Kenny is also made fun of his lazy eye and turning his head sideways when talking to people to hide the fact that he has it.
[edit] Byron
Byron Watson is another main character in this book. He is disobedient, sarcastic, and in Kenny's eyes a "juvenile delinquent." The Watsons believe that Byron is only disobedient because of his friend Buphead. Byron finally reaches his trouble-point when he gets a conk or his hair straightened and slicked back. After this incident he finds out that he is going to be taken to Birmingham, Alabama and will have to stay a summer with his grandma, Grandma Sands. While in Birmingham, Byron instantly turns in to a goodie-too-shoes. Out of all the characters in the book he has changed the most, showing more at the of the book kindness towards Kenny, Joey, his parents, and even life. He also is the strongest kid in school. "Daddy Cool" is his nickname.
[edit] Wilona
Wilona is Byron, Kenny, and Joey's mother and Daniel's wife. Her home city is Birmingham, so she has a southern accent. (Her accent gets worse whenever she's mad.) Whenever she is going to smile she always covers her mouth with her hand, because she has a huge gap in her front teeth. Wilona is a strict mother and only wants the best for her kids, though when Byron gets into trouble, she does whatever it takes to make him understand that he must become mature.
[edit] Joetta
Joetta - nicknamed Joey - is the sister of Byron and Kenny. She is a gullible and well-mannered kindergardener. Joetta is considered a big cry baby. Whenever Byron gets in trouble she cries and begs her parents not to hurt him. Joey went to church the day of the bombing, but wasn't in the building when it happened, because she said that Kenny led her away from the church, although she was merely mistaking someone else for him.
[edit] Daniel
Daniel is the father of Joetta, Byron and Kenny and the husband of Wilona. Daniel doesn't really do much, but he can be strict when he wants to.
[edit] Supporting characters
- Grandma Sands
- Grandma Sands is the grandmother of Kenny, Byron, and Joey. She is very strict, but loving. When the Watsons reach Birmingham she greets them by saying, "My fambly, my beautiful, beautiful fambly."
- Buphead
- Buphead was not a nice boy, he and Byron were never nice. Buphead and Byron did mean things to Kenny like when Buphead and Byron taught Kenny how to survive a blizzard and they shove a snowball in Kenny's face. Buphead always did bad things with Byron, like beating up kids or making fun of how they talk or dress.
- Rufus
- Rufus is a new kid at Clark Elementry who has a little brother Cody. In the beginning of this book you can't tell they are poor, and the book doesn't directly state it, but you can assume they are poor. Rufus eventually becomes Kenny's best friend and towards the end when Kenny is depressed he gives Rufus his dinosaurs.
- The Wool Pooh
- While Byron and Kenny are at Alabama, Byron tells Kenny about Winne the Pooh's evil counterpart; the "Wool Pooh". Kenny thinks he sees the Wool Pooh at the lake where he nearly drowned, and after the Church Bombing. The Wool Pooh was mistaken for "Whirlpool". The Wool Pooh is considered to be symbolic of death.
[edit] History behind the book
At the time of the Watson’s trip, the U.S. South was caught up in a struggle for basic human rights that became known as the civil rights movement. Although the Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal and the Constitution had been amended after the Civil War to extend the rights and protections of African Americans, changing law of the land did not always change the way people behaved. In the Northern, Eastern, and Western states, African Americans often faced discrimination, but it was not as extreme as extreme and pervasive as in the South. There communities and states passed laws that allowed discrimination in schooling, housing and job opportunities; prohibited interracial marriages; and enforced segregation by creating separate facilities for African Americans and whites.
In most of the South, African Americans were not permitted to attend the same schools as whites or to use the same parks, playgrounds, swimming pools, hospitals, drinking fountains or bathrooms. Hotels, restaurants and stores would not serve African Americans. The worst sections of public facilities were set-aside for "Coloreds only." White children often went to large, well equipped, modern schools while African American student went to one-room schoolhouses without enough books or teachers. Rigged laws and "tests" prevented African Americans from voting.
A number of organizations and individuals were working tirelessly to end segregation and discrimination: the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), as well as Thurgood Marshall, John Lewis, Ralph Abernathy, Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Along with many other people whose names have been forgotten, these men and women strove to change the laws through nonviolent resistance. They adopted many of the techniques that Mohandas Gandhi had used to liberate India from British rule. Sit-ins and Boycotts of stores and public transportation applied economic pressure. Freedom Writers - African Americans and whites - took bus trips throughout the South to test federal laws that banned segregation in interstate transportation. Black students had enrolled in segregated schools such as Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas, and the University of Alabama. Picketing, protest marches, and demonstrations made headlines. Civil rights workers carried out programs for voter education and registration. The goal was to create tension and provoke confrontations that would force federal government to step in and enforce the laws. Often the tension exploded into gunshots, fires and bombings directed against the people who so bravely fought for change.
The characters and events in this novel are fictional. However, there were many unsolved bombings in Birmingham at the time of this story, including the one that took place at the Sixteenth Avenue Baptist Church on September 15, 1963. Four young-teenage girls - Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley - were killed when a bomb went off during Sunday school. Addie Mae Collins's sister, Sarah, had to have an eye removed, and another girl was blinded. In the unrest that followed the bombing, two other African American children died. Sixteen-year-old Johnny Robinson was shot to death by the police, and thirteen-year-old Virgil Wade was murdered by two white boys.
Despite the danger, the civil rights movement grew stronger, gaining support all over the country. On August 28, 1963, two hundred thousand people marched to Washington D.C., to pressure Congress to pass the Civil Rights Bill, and heard Martin Luther King, Jr. deliver his "I have a dream" speech. President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Bill on July 2, 1964, and signed the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965. In 1968 Congress passed the Fair Housing Act.
