The New Crisis, July 1st, 2000
In this short story, Fenton Johnson introduces the reader to Elizabeth (Liza) Jan, an African-American servant. Liza, a Southerner, finds herself working for an "uppity" Chicago black family. Although the indignities of racism have always been part of her existence, she now experiences a feeling of separation based on social class within her own race. This short story was published in August 1912.
"Ah sho' ain't gwine tuh wohk foh dese hyar cullud folks no mo'. `Deed ah isn't."
And in these words, spoken during great emotional stress, Eliza Jane, three weeks removed from the Southland, annou...
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