Men We Reaped: How Systematic Issues in America LEAD to Tragedies
“By the numbers, by all the official records, here at the confluence of history, of racism, of poverty, and economic power, this is what our lives are worth: nothing.”
Whether it means entering the afterworld, reincarnating, or simply withering away, many societies have come to accept death as something absolute, a tragic yet inevitable part of life. Yet when the death of her loved ones relentlessly persists throughout Jesmyn Ward’s life, her overwhelming grief and anger turn into a longing for answers to why—why had so many people passed away so abruptly, so prematurely? In her memoir Men We Reaped, Ward weaves together the stories of five seemingly separate deaths and the background of her childhood community in a manner that showcases how deeply rooted economic, social, and racial patterns played a significant role in each of the deaths. By reflecting on the anecdote of her younger brother’s death and the complication that follows, Ward illustrates how economic inequity and systematic racism contribute to fatalities in many marginalized communities.
First, Ward showcases how the scramble for money places one in compromised situations. Despite not being assigned, Ward’s younger brother Joshua was working on the night of his death “to pick up extra hours to make a little extra money” (229). When he finally clocked out of his shift late during the night, Joshua was fatally hit by a drunk driver. If Joshua had not been willing to work overtime for just “a little extra money” (229), he may have still been alive; however, the perpetual pressure inflicted on Black men to earn money, regardless of the means of which they use, may have prompted Joshua to work late at the casino and thus causing him to return home during the night despite the multitude of risks, including low visibility, fatigued driving, elevated risks of crime, or (as Joshua experienced) drunk drivers. The nearly desperate tone Ward conveys when describing how Joshua was working overtime for just a marginal increase in pay further depicts these pressures and alludes to significant difficulties when trying to earn more. The need to make money paired with the lack of safe, secure job options were the two main factors that placed Joshua in such a position to be killed in the first place. The latter of the factors is tied with systematic racism and inequity for many Black individuals. Ward assumes her audience is at least somewhat familiar with the economic and racial disparities that persist throughout Black communities—how Black individuals have some of the lowest employment rates in America in part due to the lack of education and the presence of systematic racism in the education system. Therefore, the lack of complete education, something Joshua did not have, can be attributed to faults in society rather than the individual. With Black students more likely to be held back in grades or receive disciplinary action (a depiction of systematic racism), it makes it harder for Black individuals to complete school. Furthermore, with many poor, Black people segregated into communities such as the predominantly black town of DeLisle, there are significantly fewer strong educational opportunities as education is typically determined by location. Hence with poorer, segregated schools reflecting the racially segregated communities, many marginalized Blacks’ ability to develop key skills and move up the social ladder with higher-paying, more stable jobs is hindered. This racist functioning of society made it so that Joshua did not have a fair chance to get educated, faced difficulties when trying to get employed, and lacked a stable job. In the scenario, one of the few options Joshua did have to make some form of substantial money was working long, atypical hours in the casino, imposing greater risks on himself and ultimately resulting in his death. In essence, this type of systemic racism leads to economic inequities, forcing individuals to place themselves in riskier situations in hopes of earning more.
Secondly, Ward uses this anecdote to demonstrate how the current racism in the justice system leads to the continuity of deaths. At first, Ward was surprised to find that the driver was only charged for leaving the site of an accident, not for actually killing Joshua. Yet, Ward soon realizes that “the drunk driver was in his forties and White. [Her] brother was nineteen and Black” (234). This difference in races, she concluded, was the reason the man received a significantly lighter charge than what truly occurred. Ward uses this anecdote to act as a riveting example for present-day racism within the judicial system. For the judicial system to not acknowledge killing Joshua as an act of crime, reveals significant issues in the system and prompts questions in the reader's mind: How could something so terrible be real in present-day America, the heart of equality and justice? Would the same charges result if their races were different? If the white man didn’t leave Joshua dead after the accident, would he even be charged? Through this example, Ward evokes feelings of shock, fills the readers with burning questions, and pulls at the reader's sense of justice in a way that brutally opens their minds to the prevailing inequity and blatant racism in marginalized communities. Moreover, from a larger context, this anecdote is a precedent for the level of despicability in Mississippi’s, and other American, judicial systems. Races played a role in letting the white driver get away with mild charges for killing a black man; who’s not to say that other killers, perhaps severely ill-intentioned, have escaped with mild charges simply due to their race? Ward illustrates that the systematic racism thriving in the judicial system opens the gates for more premature, unjust deaths.
Finally, Ward conveys that the lack of economic support provided by the judicial system continues the cycle of poverty and death. Ward notes that even though the white man was sentenced to five years in jail and fined over 14 thousand dollars to Ward’s family, “the man served 3 years and 2 months of his sentence before he was released, and he never paid [her] mother anything” (235). Through this anecdote, Ward shows the possibility that Mississippi not only lowered the charges based on race but also failed to enforce them. The implications of this are two-fold: First, the white man not serving his full sentence is representative of the practically insignificant value the judicial system puts on Joshua’s, and other black mens’, lives. However, even more concerning is the fact that Ward’s family did not receive a single cent from Joshua’s death. Apart from being drowned with grief, from an economic viewpoint, Ward’s family had lost a source of income. This could have been severe if, for example, Ward’s family did not have other working family members. If Joshua was the primary provider, not receiving at least some compensation after his death could have fueled the depleting economic conditions in the family, forcing kids to drop out of school, find any possible job (despite the risks), and hence complete the cycle of poverty. Though this scenario did not occur for Ward’s family, the inequity Ward displays through this anecdote portrays the severe, yet very real, possibilities. Overall, the lack of economic support often completes the cycle of poverty for many marginalized individuals.
Anecdotes, like the death of Ward’s brothers, make her book feel like a work of fiction—something so unjust and riveting that readers beg for it to not be true. However, through specific details and the implications of each, Ward’s anecdotes effectively open the reader’s eyes to the personal and persistent effects that racism and economic inequality have on many marginalized, Black communities. The anecdote appeals to her audience, those willing to address or advocate for change in the American system, as it is concrete evidence of these systemic problems and highlights the need to end the cycle of poverty, stop the infestations of racism, and end the overgrown epidemic of suffering. Ward’s retelling of the death of her brother speaks to how poor economic conditions, the prevalence of racism in the judicial system, and the lack of economic support, leads to frequent, tragic death.
Purpose
Ward expresses that economic, social, and racial issues in the American system are the underlying causes of tragedies in many marginalized, Black communities in hopes that the American system would change. While discussing the deaths, Ward reflects, “We tried to ignore [the darkness], but sometimes we caught ourselves repeating what history said, mumbling along, brainwashed: I am nothing. There is a great darkness bearing down on our lives, and no one acknowledges it.” (249-250). Searching for reasons why so many people she knew in DeLisle had been dying, she blamed it on the “darkness,” personifying it as whispering, chasing, and killing those in her community. Though Ward never directly clarifies what the darkness is, because she mentions that the low value of Black lives is something “history said” (249), the darkness may be symbolic to the issues derived from the unjust history of American society. America’s history is plagued with slavery, segregation, racism, and generations of trauma for many Black individuals. Despite the reform movements to overcome this inequity, many Black communities are still segregated, lack complete education, have a lower average income, face microaggressions and prejudice, and are subject to racism, portrayed through the poverty-stricken town of DeLisle. These social, economic, and racial disadvantages, represented by the darkness and explored throughout the novel, place Black individuals in compromised scenarios as they attempt to overcome these superimposed factors; however, these risks increase their chance of dying. Continually reminding the reader of the larger factors at play, Ward’s focus on the darkness ties together the five seemingly isolated deaths with the stories about the struggle in her community in a manner that places their stories in a broader context and directs the blame onto systematic issues in America rather than leaving the deaths as accidents. Just like darkness, Ward depicts, poverty, racism, and injustice are ubiquitous in marginalized communities though often overlooked. Consequently, Ward hopes to showcase this darkness, the injustices in American society, and its terrifying effects on her community in hopes that revealing the personal effects of this issue would bring about change. Overall, the motif of darkness assures the readers that the faults in American society have not disappeared, continue to cause tragedies in marginalized communities, and prompts the reader to stop it.
Intended Audience
The audience is those willing to advocate for changes in the American system. She appeals to her audience by prodding at their sense of justice and empathy. Most notably, Ward employs these techniques in perhaps the most her most heart-wrenching anecdote: the car accident that killed her nineteen-year-old brother. After a drunk, white man fatally hit her little brother’s car, Ward reveals that the jury “didn’t charge [the man] with vehicular manslaughter. They charged him with something else. Leaving the scene of an accident” (233). This despicability of this statement fuels readers with feelings of shock, horror, and anger. It makes them question how could a justice system be so unjust. How could they not factor the death of a human into the charges? By providing an anecdote that kindles unsettling emotions and appeals to their sense of justice, Ward is able to enforce the need for systematic change into the reader’s hearts. This technique reaches her intended audience since this sense of justice for those harmed by racism is typically only present in individuals who are passionate or care about the lives of marginalized communities, such as activists, policymakers, or anyone else willing to take a stance, to shatter the silence and injustice. Additionally, because Ward’s younger brother is one of the men who died, there is an additional level of pain packed in Ward's recollection, as depicted through intense diction like “manslaughter” (233). Instead of speaking about the incidents that occur in a matter-of-fact tone, Ward incorporates her anger and grief making it easier for her audience to empathize with her pain. Tactfully placed near the end of the book, Ward directs these strong emotions in the reader onto the faults of the American system calling on the audience to make a change. She urges readers to have the empathy to establish systemic changes in America to bring justice for Black men and other marginalized communities, in hopes of an equitable world.
Call To Action
In her memoir Men We Reaped, Jesymn Ward hopes that readers will gain empathy and establish changes in the American system to help stop the infestations of poverty, racism, violence, discrimination, and other underlying causes of death that Black men and communities suffer from. Throughout the memoir, Ward not only reflects on her own storms of grief and anger from the unjust, devastating deaths of five men in her life but also interlaces anecdotes of her childhood and community, allowing readers to understand these tragedies in a broader context. In perhaps the most heart-wrenching anecdote, Ward grieves the death of her younger brother Joshua, only nineteen, who was violently hit by a middle-aged, drunk, white man; however, the jury “didn’t charge [the man] with vehicular manslaughter. They charged him with something else. Leaving the scene of an accident” (233). Despite being completely drunk and killing a man, in essence, the Mississippi jury’s verdict conveys the idea that Joshua’s life was worthless—if the jury claimed that abandoning the accident was the only crime, if the man were to stay, would he be deemed innocent? Is the American justice system so corrupt that the value of human life has been whittled down into dollars that people don’t pay and years in prison people don’t serve? Ward finds the strength to write about this unbelievable moment to powerfully illustrate how the American system views black lives and the racism and discrimination that still persists, destroying families, fueling anger, and fostering grief, that ultimately causes more lives to spiral downwards in attempts to cope. This hideous example shakes readers' hearts, invokes a sense of justice within them, and helps them realize that there is a dire need for a change in the system. As Ward continues to describe anecdotes from on her rocky journey trying to cope with burning injustice and death, she realizes, “[G]rief doesn’t fade. Grief scabs over like scars and pulls into new, painful configurations as it knits [...] We are never free from grief. We are never free from the feeling that something is wrong with us, not with the world that made this mess” (239-240). By not ending the story with the death of Joshua but continuing to explain the detrimental effects his death and the others had on her family, community, and her own life, Ward clearly portrays the rippling, deteriorating effects of inequity. This further strengthens the call for the need to make systematic changes as an equitable society that would honor those who have died, help reduce the everlasting pain on shattered families and communities, and prevent further treachery from occurring. Furthermore, the vivid imagery of how grief festered in Ward makes readers writhe. Through this example, readers understand that Ward’s grief is severe as is the grief of many others affected by the faulty American system. Her use of figurative and descriptive language, riveting and uncomfortable, also prods the reader to advocate for a change—for how can one sit still after learning about the endless suffering so many drown with every day? Ward’s memoir is overwhelming, brimming with anger, grief, and heavy topics like death, racism, and poverty. Yet, it is these stories that have the ability to empower society to make a change. Through the use and reflection of anecdotes from her life, Ward urges readers to have the empathy to establish systemic changes in America to bring justice for Black men and other marginalized communities, in hopes of an equitable world.
