• Zora Neale Hurston's "Black Death"
  • Tyshae Jefferson on Zora Neale Hurston's "Black Death"
  • Suggested Project on "Black Death"
  • Tyshae's Response to Project Suggestion
  • Donna Woods on Zora Neale Hurston's "Black Death"

On Saturday, April 22, Tyshae Jefferson wrote:

Hi Jeanne,

I just want to tell you how I am enjoying reading the poems and short stories from the Harlem Renaissance. I just finished reading a short story by Zora Neale Hurston called "Black Death." It gave me the creeps while reading it, but at the same time I just couldn't take my eyes away from the screen. It was a terrific and entertaining story. Now I think I'm going to read another one.

Tyshae:)

On Saturday, 22 April 2000, jeanne responded:

Yes, Tyshae, Black Death is a gripping story, with a theme as poignant today as it was when Zora Neale Hurston wrote it. jeanne

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On Sunday, May 8, Donna Woods wrote:

Hi Jeanne,   My comments on Black Death:   Back in the early sixties it was still taboo to have a child out of wedlock. During this time It was fashionable to label a child, a "bastard" for not having a legal father.     I grew up around black males, cousins, and I was privileged to witness the hunt; the capture, and the spoils of the game. Nice young ladies were turned into tramps, and sluts. This strong language was used by my grandmother.  The young girls took their babies back to their own mothers, because the males could easily deny being the father.  There is a famous saying that has become a joke over the years, "Moma's baby, daddies maybe".

On Monday, May 8, 2000, jeanne responded:

Donna, as sorry as I am to say it, it is still taboo with many mothers for their daughters to have a baby out of wedlock. We grew up with that assumption, and we may accept the changing realities, but most of us would still wish for the bride before the baby. That is the power and the danger of unstated assumptions. There's a lag in which our attitudes don't have time to catch up with the reality of a changing world. And even though we live in this new reality, it still hurts when the Beau Diddelys of the world hurl the old insults.

That's one of the goals of Love 1A. To help us become aware of the hurt we inflict when we judge too quickly. Andre Gide: "Je deteste ceux qui m'entendent trop vite." ("I detest those who understand me too quickly")

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Suggested Project on "Black Death"

Consider linking this story to the issue of the plight of young girls in the juvenile justice system. Do young women still have to contend with attitudes like that of Beau Diddely? What about Docia's plaint, "'Mommer, if he jus' hadn't tried to make me out a bad girl, I could look over the rest in time, mommer, but--but he tried to make out--ah--.' Docia broke down weeping again." Is the concept of "bad girl" still alive today?

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Tyshae's Response to Project Suggestion On May 22, 2000, Tyshae Jefferson wrote:

The concept of "bad girl" is still alive today. Beau Diddely and Docia's situation has been going on for decades, is still going on, and will be going on as long as time will. It's sad that young women still have to contend with attitudes like that of the Beau Diddely's. But the reason for this is because men are still not taking responsibilities for their actions. Instead they want to belittle young women and make them feel like the "bad girl." I'm not saying that all the blame should be placed on the guy in a situation of pregnancy, because a young woman has a responsibility as well. However, not only do the Docia's of our time have to put up with the negative attitudes like that of the Beau Diddely's, but with society's also.

On May 22, jeanne responded:

This is a good example, Tyshae, of how the violence of labeling in response to the fear of punishment begets endless violence. the label of "bad girl," was handy, so that Beau Diddely could readily use it, and others were quick to believe without seeking the whole story. Docia's humiliation over having given herself to one who was untrue, thus making her look like a "bad girl," was the result of structural violence. Beau intended to deflect responsibility by blaming another, but he could not have doen that if the social group were not structurally violent in its readiness to believe the "bad girl" story. Thus, the harm to Docia is the result of violence in a structurally violent social context. Docia's despair is reflected in her mother's despair for her, and thus the violence of Beau, supported by the structural violence of the social group in believing that Docia alone was "bad," escalated to the violence perpetrated by Docia's mother. The need for "forgiveness" goes deep. But the peacemaking identity must recognize the interdependence of violence and structural violence. We may not be able to make Beau Diddely into a loving, caring person, but he could not have wrought such violence without society's complicity in its own structural violence of labeling.

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