My Mother The Cheerleader explores a very specific event in 20th century American history; the desegregation of schools in 1960 in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. This event is recounted through the eyes of thirteen-year-old Louise Collins, who lives with her mother, Pauline, in their boardinghouse, Rooms On Desire.Life for young Louise is uneventful until desegregation is ordered for the Ninth Ward's all-white elementary schools. In November 1960, four Negro girls are permitted to attend the schools; three are attending McDonogh No. 19 Elementary School, while one of these girls, Ruby Bridges, is enrolled in Louise's school, William Frantz Elementary School.
This has resulted in the white students being pulled from school in protest and a group of mothers is formed to taunt the little first-grade students as they enter the schools. These mothers are dubbed "the cheerleaders". But the "cheerleading" that Louise's mother is doing is "so full of foul language that the newspapers couldn't even print the words." And what they say is not really reported on television or radio.
"The cheerleaders" also draw the ire of writer John Steinbeck, one of Louise's favourite authors. He writes about the cheerleaders in his book, Travels With Charley, a book about Steinbeck's travels across America in 1960 with Charley, his large poodle. His views on the Cheerleaders didn't really sit well with Louise because, like those opposed to segregation, he too tended to dehumanize those he didn't agree with. "They were not mothers, not even women. They were crazy actors, playing to a crazy audience." To Louise, her mother is both a mother and a human being." But Louise believes that what we see on the outside isn't necessarily the full picture. "I don't blame Mr. Steinbeck for writing what he did. He saw my mother and the other Cheerleaders from the outside looking in. From that point of view, I'm sure he thought he was painting a very accurate portrait. However, I saw my mother and her friends from the inside. And I've found that people always tend to look different from that angle, when you can really get in close and get a good look at all the details that hang just below the surface."
"The cheerleaders" also draw the ire of writer John Steinbeck, one of Louise's favourite authors. He writes about the cheerleaders in his book, Travels With Charley, a book about Steinbeck's travels across America in 1960 with Charley, his large poodle. His views on the Cheerleaders didn't really sit well with Louise because, like those opposed to segregation, he too tended to dehumanize those he didn't agree with. "They were not mothers, not even women. They were crazy actors, playing to a crazy audience." To Louise, her mother is both a mother and a human being." But Louise believes that what we see on the outside isn't necessarily the full picture. "I don't blame Mr. Steinbeck for writing what he did. He saw my mother and the other Cheerleaders from the outside looking in. From that point of view, I'm sure he thought he was painting a very accurate portrait. However, I saw my mother and her friends from the inside. And I've found that people always tend to look different from that angle, when you can really get in close and get a good look at all the details that hang just below the surface."
And so Louise Lorraine Collins tells the story of her mother, over a period of a few days, and what happens when she meets a friend of John Steinbeck who comes to stay at their boardinghouse.
Louise had been attending William Frantz Elementary School until November 1960 when little Ruby Bridges, a first-grade student was enrolled. At this point her mother pulled her out of school and she spent the days helping out at her mother's boarding school. The Ninth Ward is one of the poorest wards in New Orleans, with rough streets without sidewalks and no sewage system. When Ruby Bridges is allowed to attend William Frantz, Louise wondered why she wanted to go to such a terrible school. So instead of going to school Louise is working at her mother's rooming house which is located at the corner of Desire and North Galvez Streets.
The rooming house, Rooms On Desire, a play on its location at the corner of Desire and North Galvez streets is "just a plain pea-green wood house with white trim, featuring three stories, six bedrooms A Negro lady, Charlotte Dupree helps Louise's mother run the house, which has one long-time boarder, seventy-six year old Cornelius Landroux. Steinbeck's friend, Morgan Miller, arrives in the Ninth Ward with the intention of reconnecting with his brother. Unlike most of the men who frequent Rooms on Desire, Morgan is a gentleman, confident and "usually comfortable in his own skin and with the world in general." He treats Pauline with respect and Louise with a gentle kindness, often helping smooth things over for her, when her mother is harsh.
Louise who has been pulled from school decides to spend her time "snooping" on Morgan. She wants to know who he is, because he's so different from anyone who has ever stayed at the boardinghouse. However, Louise's snooping reveals secrets she's not prepared for, about her mother, about herself, and about the world.
Discussion
My Mother The Cheerleader is a novel about the integration of schools in the southern United States. Set in 1960, in the Ninth Ward in the city of New Orleans, it focuses on the desegregation of two schools in the city over the period of several days. The events are related by the daughter of a white woman, deeply opposed to desegregation. The main characters in the novel are fictional, but Ruby Bridges, the little Black American girl who was allowed to attend William Frantz school is real.
My Mother The Cheerleader is a novel about the integration of schools in the southern United States. Set in 1960, in the Ninth Ward in the city of New Orleans, it focuses on the desegregation of two schools in the city over the period of several days. The events are related by the daughter of a white woman, deeply opposed to desegregation. The main characters in the novel are fictional, but Ruby Bridges, the little Black American girl who was allowed to attend William Frantz school is real.
Despite the United States Supreme court ordering that desegregation be implemented with "all deliberate speed", Louisiana and the city of New Orleans were not willing to integrate black students into white schools. As the state continued to create legal and other barriers to either stall or make integration almost impossible, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, finally ruled the many bills designed to make integration illegal in the state were struck down and on November 14, 1960, schools were desegregated.
The two schools chosen for integration were located in the very poor Ninth Ward. White parents protested, and began withdrawing their children from the two schools, just as Louise mentions in the novel. Shortly after this, a group of housewives, rabidly opposed to integration formed and began harrassing little Ruby Bridges, only six-years-old.
Looking back on this event, almost 52 years later, it seems almost incredible that a little 6 year old black girl would need a contingent of federal agents to see that she got to school unharmed. It's hard to believe people held these views but it's even more disturbing that many still do hold onto racial prejudice. My Mother The Cheerleader provides readers the opportunity to try to understand the views people held in 1960 about race and civil rights and does so very effectively. These people were judges, lawyers, teachers, mothers, fathers and children, and just like anyone else living in the United States in 1960. Some were outstanding citizens, while others were just ordinary folk.
The southern white view of desegregation is portrayed through the character of Louise's mother, Pauline who violently argues with Morgan about why black children shouldn't be attending white schools. Her prejudice, like those of her peers, goes much deeper though and doesn't just include black people. When Pauline is attacked and Louise goes to the home of their black cook, Charlotte Dupree, for help, the reader learns why each race can't help the other, even if they wanted to, even in deadly circumstances, simply because of the class restrictions in place at that time. What would be needed is an act of supreme courage, to go against the conventions of society at that time. And we come to see what happens to those in the segregated South, who believe all men are created equal, and who stand up for that belief. All of these are teachable moments, woven seamlessly into this brilliant story by author, Robert Sharenow.
The author includes many realistic characters in the novel. While some of the characters are stereotypical, (there's the typical "red-necks" and earthy no-nonsense black maid) they are believable. Each person, Pauline, Louise, Charlotte Dupree, Morgan Miller and even minor characters, are well drawn, having depth. For example, Louise's mother, Pauline is the stereotypical single mother; lazy, not a good mother to her child, a heavy drinker, and a woman who becomes involved with men. She is loud, self-absorbed, and vain. Yet later on in the novel Pauline is shown to care for her daughter Louise and to have compassion.
The southern white view of desegregation is portrayed through the character of Louise's mother, Pauline who violently argues with Morgan about why black children shouldn't be attending white schools. Her prejudice, like those of her peers, goes much deeper though and doesn't just include black people. When Pauline is attacked and Louise goes to the home of their black cook, Charlotte Dupree, for help, the reader learns why each race can't help the other, even if they wanted to, even in deadly circumstances, simply because of the class restrictions in place at that time. What would be needed is an act of supreme courage, to go against the conventions of society at that time. And we come to see what happens to those in the segregated South, who believe all men are created equal, and who stand up for that belief. All of these are teachable moments, woven seamlessly into this brilliant story by author, Robert Sharenow.
The author includes many realistic characters in the novel. While some of the characters are stereotypical, (there's the typical "red-necks" and earthy no-nonsense black maid) they are believable. Each person, Pauline, Louise, Charlotte Dupree, Morgan Miller and even minor characters, are well drawn, having depth. For example, Louise's mother, Pauline is the stereotypical single mother; lazy, not a good mother to her child, a heavy drinker, and a woman who becomes involved with men. She is loud, self-absorbed, and vain. Yet later on in the novel Pauline is shown to care for her daughter Louise and to have compassion.
There is the wonderful theme of courage throughout the novel, not just on the part of Ruby Bridges, but also in the characters of Morgan Miller and surprisingly, depending on how she is viewed by the reader, Pauline Collins. Courageous acts come in all sizes and ways.
Readers are advised there are some sexual references in this novel.
Readers are advised there are some sexual references in this novel.
Ruby Bridges image is in the public domain:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/US_Marshals_with_Young_Ruby_Bridges_on_School_Steps.jpg
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/ruby-bridges
Book Details:
My Mother The Cheerleader by Robert Sharenow
Laura Geringer Books (HarperCollins Publishers) 2007
289 pp.
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