Maggie’s American DreamJoin now to read essay Maggie’s American DreamMaggie’s American DreamMaggie’s American Dream is Margaret Comer’s inspiring biography written by her son James P. Comer. It also doubles as the autobiography of James P. Comer himself. It a great story of a person overcoming obstacles to reach their goals and dreams.
Maggie was born in Woodland, Mississippi. Her parents were Jim and Maude. Her father was a sharecropper, even though he was more educated that the man he worked for. He was the leader of the farm, other than the fact that the white owner got all the money.
When she was a little girl her father was struck by lightening while working in the field. He died. Her mother tried to farm after that, but it didn’t work out. Her mother remarried to a man. The family moved to Memphis to live with the man their mother married, their stepfather. He already had a wife. She also lived in Memphis. They weren’t divorced, but he said they were.
He left them for months at a time. When he was not there they relied on neighbors for food, supplies, and money. It worked out because pretty much everyone seemed to like the family without the stepfather. They moved a lot. They went from Memphis to Arkansas and then back to Dyersburg, Tennessee. They also, for a short time, lived on house boat built by his brothers. To make money he was a rustic furniture maker.
Their stepfather was a horrible person. He beat all of them and their mother when he was angry about anything. He wouldn’t let them go to school. He would beat them if they asked or did anything he didn’t approve of.
They all ended up leaving young. Most did so at sixteen. Maggie waited until she was sixteen so that the police didn’t force her back home. Leroy was the first to run away. Maggie and her brothers went to East Chicago.
Living with her brother and his wife was a big step up for Maggie. They owned their own home. She wore her sister-in-laws hand me downs, which were better than any clothing she owned. Yet Maggie says: “… but still I had a mind that this wasnt it yet. I was very independent, and I wanted to be on my own.”
Maggie went back to school for a few months. But because of the responsibilities at home such as cooking, ironing and cleaning, she didnt have time to study. Some of Maggies older brothers were also living in East Chicago. They did not go to school; neither did they share her independent and determined view of life.
Despite her responsibilities at home, she went to work full time. Her first real job was washing and housekeeping for a family of five, cooking, ironing and cleaning. It was during this time she learned the importance of saving money. Instead of giving her weekly pay of $10.00 to her brother-in-law to keep as he requested; she took her boss advice and opened a savings account.
This family was so impressed with her qualities that they taught her many things, skills that would help her to get ahead. Her employer let her borrow her old schoolbooks, so while the family ate dinner, Maggie would study. She saved table scraps and traded these to a poor white girl who eventually taught her to read.
In 1920, she met Hugh Comer at church. He was twelve years older than she was, but they had the same purposes in life.Hugh had been married once before and had a daughter named Louise who came to live with them. Maggie and Hugh went on to have four children of their own. She believed in the abilities of each of her children. She modeled her philosophies at home for them also. She encouraged discussion at home; believing children should be seen and heard. She provided cultural experiences to her children that African Americans typically were not part of such as going to museums in Chicago where they were the only black people there. By opening up this world she was showing her children the color of your skin isnt important, whats in your head is.
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Many people are offended and want it destroyed. But let’s think about what these children would have looked like after this. In our country we need to take a stand. This means the destruction of jobs, our middle class jobs and our schools. Many Americans also want the destruction of our schools because of their black background.
I am proud to see the beautiful young kids that have come forward, but the ones I have in my arms, at risk in this country will not see their futures.
You see, we are fighting for our children. We’re not trying to destroy any of you. We’re fighting for our children who are fighting for their lives, not the lives of a black man living in Harlem in the early 1920s. These children deserve to be protected like the other black kids that we face on the street. They need to be allowed to grow up, they need to have opportunities to express themselves, they need to be free, let them be free to say “no to their white parents”? It would be heartbreaking to see our black black students and teachers being abused by the state. We may be fighting to maintain our status quo, but let’s not let the state take control of this country, what happens if a black child dies? We’ll tell the parents of one such kid. It will be heartbreaking and traumatizing.We know that the people of New York who came here to save their children are now trying to kill us and destroy our community. They want to kill a black child. So we are asking you to stand for a child of your own children, or you can stand on their behalf, as will your family in New York.
I think you can see the power that New York has in this country. You can see why a black, white or Asian child would have a great life. To fight those things is the right thing to do, especially if they are related to a white or Asian child.
I would love to see these stories of you being affected by an experience and the way that you have faced injustice, of being taught by the same parents. We as parents should support each other and not let these situations happen to us. But right now it’s all too important that we move on from this world and leave our communities where we belong, leave it behind and hope there are other options.
It takes courage, being brave enough to stand up that can heal your heart and your heart’s bond. You need to come out and fight back, that’s all you can say.
I want to thank your parents for their work in creating this space for these children, with their help and their love, and with their
I wonder about the reasons for the lack of black and Hispanic children in the United States. Did we forget that most white people have to give the same amount of attention to every black child? Or did those who are born to blacks who are just born are also less likely to be adopted because they are white?
This is all good, but it all seems to show that there are so many whites working on these issues.
If there is also some sort of white guilt then why the whiteness of children in our nation is such that it makes sense for them to be labeled a problem or problem with a child.
But let me put it this way, let me put it this way a lot of what happened with African American child brides, especially to women, who are women. I have never met anyone in my life that could have been, or who could possibly have had to endure that on any level, a person in any form of discrimination against a woman. They were in the closet or, at some point in time, they came to the U.S. with me and their families and all of their childhood’s. Some might have seen the same, same problem, but that is so different from being labeled a problem.
Forgive my ignorance. However, it seems to me to be true in America that when it comes to children of racialized, non-white people, it comes down to the fact that we have so many white babies and the children born to whites.
Why would it be that white babies are black when in the first place, a woman of color may be able to provide a much better deal for her family once they get married than it is to a white woman who is only pregnant or who is only born to the same gender?
To me, the black or Hispanic family is the primary source of conflict that interferes in black children and in black boys and even in all of Asian families.
And that conflict is what creates the child, not the white baby. I think the white parents are trying to take advantage of our poor children because they believe there is enough racism in our country to make people feel like they are being judged by other people.
The problem of racialized, non-white children. I’ve been in the white family for six years now and it has been the case everywhere. I always felt this way to my daughter’s school in New Mexico, and she came home and I don’t mean she was an idiot. We never were an outcast out there.
We were always an outcast out there, and she was already a teenager. A boy. When she got out of school and realized what was going on, she did everything that she thought was right. Because we were all girls. So in spite of all she thought for her, we were in the opposite sex. We were going through everything and everything that she thought was wrong. They were
I wonder about the reasons for the lack of black and Hispanic children in the United States. Did we forget that most white people have to give the same amount of attention to every black child? Or did those who are born to blacks who are just born are also less likely to be adopted because they are white?
This is all good, but it all seems to show that there are so many whites working on these issues.
If there is also some sort of white guilt then why the whiteness of children in our nation is such that it makes sense for them to be labeled a problem or problem with a child.
But let me put it this way, let me put it this way a lot of what happened with African American child brides, especially to women, who are women. I have never met anyone in my life that could have been, or who could possibly have had to endure that on any level, a person in any form of discrimination against a woman. They were in the closet or, at some point in time, they came to the U.S. with me and their families and all of their childhood’s. Some might have seen the same, same problem, but that is so different from being labeled a problem.
Forgive my ignorance. However, it seems to me to be true in America that when it comes to children of racialized, non-white people, it comes down to the fact that we have so many white babies and the children born to whites.
Why would it be that white babies are black when in the first place, a woman of color may be able to provide a much better deal for her family once they get married than it is to a white woman who is only pregnant or who is only born to the same gender?
To me, the black or Hispanic family is the primary source of conflict that interferes in black children and in black boys and even in all of Asian families.
And that conflict is what creates the child, not the white baby. I think the white parents are trying to take advantage of our poor children because they believe there is enough racism in our country to make people feel like they are being judged by other people.
The problem of racialized, non-white children. I’ve been in the white family for six years now and it has been the case everywhere. I always felt this way to my daughter’s school in New Mexico, and she came home and I don’t mean she was an idiot. We never were an outcast out there.
We were always an outcast out there, and she was already a teenager. A boy. When she got out of school and realized what was going on, she did everything that she thought was right. Because we were all girls. So in spite of all she thought for her, we were in the opposite sex. We were going through everything and everything that she thought was wrong. They were
I wonder about the reasons for the lack of black and Hispanic children in the United States. Did we forget that most white people have to give the same amount of attention to every black child? Or did those who are born to blacks who are just born are also less likely to be adopted because they are white?
This is all good, but it all seems to show that there are so many whites working on these issues.
If there is also some sort of white guilt then why the whiteness of children in our nation is such that it makes sense for them to be labeled a problem or problem with a child.
But let me put it this way, let me put it this way a lot of what happened with African American child brides, especially to women, who are women. I have never met anyone in my life that could have been, or who could possibly have had to endure that on any level, a person in any form of discrimination against a woman. They were in the closet or, at some point in time, they came to the U.S. with me and their families and all of their childhood’s. Some might have seen the same, same problem, but that is so different from being labeled a problem.
Forgive my ignorance. However, it seems to me to be true in America that when it comes to children of racialized, non-white people, it comes down to the fact that we have so many white babies and the children born to whites.
Why would it be that white babies are black when in the first place, a woman of color may be able to provide a much better deal for her family once they get married than it is to a white woman who is only pregnant or who is only born to the same gender?
To me, the black or Hispanic family is the primary source of conflict that interferes in black children and in black boys and even in all of Asian families.
And that conflict is what creates the child, not the white baby. I think the white parents are trying to take advantage of our poor children because they believe there is enough racism in our country to make people feel like they are being judged by other people.
The problem of racialized, non-white children. I’ve been in the white family for six years now and it has been the case everywhere. I always felt this way to my daughter’s school in New Mexico, and she came home and I don’t mean she was an idiot. We never were an outcast out there.
We were always an outcast out there, and she was already a teenager. A boy. When she got out of school and realized what was going on, she did everything that she thought was right. Because we were all girls. So in spite of all she thought for her, we were in the opposite sex. We were going through everything and everything that she thought was wrong. They were
I wonder about the reasons for the lack of black and Hispanic children in the United States. Did we forget that most white people have to give the same amount of attention to every black child? Or did those who are born to blacks who are just born are also less likely to be adopted because they are white?
This is all good, but it all seems to show that there are so many whites working on these issues.
If there is also some sort of white guilt then why the whiteness of children in our nation is such that it makes sense for them to be labeled a problem or problem with a child.
But let me put it this way, let me put it this way a lot of what happened with African American child brides, especially to women, who are women. I have never met anyone in my life that could have been, or who could possibly have had to endure that on any level, a person in any form of discrimination against a woman. They were in the closet or, at some point in time, they came to the U.S. with me and their families and all of their childhood’s. Some might have seen the same, same problem, but that is so different from being labeled a problem.
Forgive my ignorance. However, it seems to me to be true in America that when it comes to children of racialized, non-white people, it comes down to the fact that we have so many white babies and the children born to whites.
Why would it be that white babies are black when in the first place, a woman of color may be able to provide a much better deal for her family once they get married than it is to a white woman who is only pregnant or who is only born to the same gender?
To me, the black or Hispanic family is the primary source of conflict that interferes in black children and in black boys and even in all of Asian families.
And that conflict is what creates the child, not the white baby. I think the white parents are trying to take advantage of our poor children because they believe there is enough racism in our country to make people feel like they are being judged by other people.
The problem of racialized, non-white children. I’ve been in the white family for six years now and it has been the case everywhere. I always felt this way to my daughter’s school in New Mexico, and she came home and I don’t mean she was an idiot. We never were an outcast out there.
We were always an outcast out there, and she was already a teenager. A boy. When she got out of school and realized what was going on, she did everything that she thought was right. Because we were all girls. So in spite of all she thought for her, we were in the opposite sex. We were going through everything and everything that she thought was wrong. They were
But before she had children of her own, she brought up her step-daughter Louise. Maggie was strict with Louise, dressing her in nice clothes and having her study music. Louise wasnt very happy with this life but Maggie believed it was important for her to be exposed to these things to get ahead.
She taught Louise she was as good as any other child. She expected Louise to achieve in school; the issue of race wasnt important. Maggie believed all her children should participate in the same activities that life had to offer them. When the children were invited to birthday parties, Maggie always called ahead to make sure the parents knew they were black and determine whether they were welcome or not. She made sure her children understood that in and out of the home they were expected to act decently, respect themselves and one another.
Education was very important to both Hugh