Rosewood Character

Ka Kei Tam

Professor Lennon

English 1B

February 1, 2014

                                                                   Rosewood

            Rosewood, Florida, is where the historical event occurred. It was happened in January 1922. This setting was important because the area was well known as the center of racist. Although every African American in Rosewood had their lands compare to other places during that time, and seemed like their rights were equal to everyone in Rosewood, but actually they were not treated equally. Between the conversations in the movie, the white residents called the black residents “boy”, but the black residents called the white residents “sir“. This is one of the survival skills in the movie. The whites attacked the African American in the towns and burned down their houses.

The story began as a white woman, Fanny who lied to people in Rosewood; a black man beat her and robs her house. Sarah, a black woman, who worked for Fanny knew the fact, which was a white man did that to Fanny. But she could not tell others the truth because people would not listen to her, and they might arrest Sarah for being of the same party with the target. The white residents in Rosewood believed in Fanny’s word and went to every black resident’s house for searching the target. They used violence way to persecute the black resident, such as shooting them and burning their houses down.

            The character that I have is Duke Purdy. He was a white supremacist man, who had a son called Emmett Purdy. At the beginning of the film, he taught techniques and beliefs to his son, such as how to use gun to shoot a deer, and how to make a noose in order to hang the black residents. He was always the one that leading people in Rosewood lynching the black residents.

            AA motif is the elements or themes in African American stories. Duke Purdy in the AA motifs is intimidation, terrorism and threats or acts of violence. He acted violent against the black residents in Rosewood. He was a racist, and he hated the black residents in the Rosewood. He was the one that lynching the black residents, such as shooting Sarah during her conversation to the white residents, hanging, burning and killing children and men. In the movie, he also taught his son the belief that African Americans were inferior to white. He taught him how to make noose for hanging the innocent black residents.