Memphis Jackson's son

the long version

"This is a simply told tale of the progress of one Southern Negro from "old" to "new" ways and it is never a sermon. Memphis Jackson is an "old style" Negro who lives in a cabin, wears an Aunt Jemima bandana, works in the big white house where her family worked before her, and almost instinctively avoids ever seeming "forward" even though her plans for her son Ken are more modern. Memphis' retiring ways are endearing to her white neighbors, some of whom help to get Ken on his feet financially and he becomes successful. But as he makes his way he discovers that some of his own people feel that his methods are wrong-- that the better and more honest way is to insist on the rights of the "new" Negro, and by the same token to discard all possible evidence that the "old" Negro existed. Yet in the end when he is actually a doctor, somehow all the disparate elements are resolved; nobody will agree on what the relationships of the Negroes and the white people should be- obviously, but even so personal friendships will continue to ignore or destroy barriers, oblivious to progressive programs and established ways alike..."--Kirkus