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Living Legacies Interview - Abstract

Goal of the Interview:

The purpose of this interview was to gain insight to the perspective of someone from

another generation on history, morals, and life, and compare that to those of today.

Context of the Interview:

I interviewed my grandmother, Adeline Dillon. My mother grew up in her house with six

siblings and moved down the street from her later in life with her husband. Because of the close

proximity, I have a strong relationship with my grandmother. I visit her frequently and often ask

her questions about the past and hers in particular. This enabled me to easily hold the interview.

We talked face-to-face as I asked her questions concerning the past, her life, and todays world.

Methodology and Principal Findings (Questions and Responses):

The interview included queries of early life, adulthood, and comparison to now. When

asked about her childhood, it was gathered that she grew up in Detroit in the 50s with a

moderately poor family. Her brother Jerome acquired two paper routes and gave all his money to

the family. Although tight on money, she was happy with her life. Growing up without todays

modern technology, which is everyones connection to the world, she was rather nave, and

didnt have much to worry about outside of her life which was enveloped in the small area she

lived in.

As a student, she attended catholic school up to the eighth grade, after which time she had

to stay home for a year to take care of her family member (which was much more common event

then, as where now it does not seem as a viable option for modern students). In returning to

school, she attended a public high school. Exposed to two near-extremes of education, she

observed that it was much easier to go to public school opposed to a private or catholic one. The
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teachers cared less about the students effort, which unsurprisingly lead to students doing less

work.

In a time where the Civil Rights Act was rapidly gaining ground, Adeline was

uncommonly unexposed to racism in her life. When she was fifteen, she heard on the news of a

controversial story regarding a colored man not being allowed to drink from a certain public

water fountain. She was taken aback at this, not being able to believe such a conflict could arise

from such a seemingly unimportant topic. As she saw no reason for discrimination, the struggle

continued on around her into adulthood. When she worked in a retail store, a black worker she

was friends with pulled her aside the end of a workday and warned her to not stop anywhere on

her route home. Although confused, she listened and went directly home. That night one of the

many race riots took place in Detroit.

When asked to compare and contrast then to now, the responses were mostly negative.

Family, what was once the center of everyones life, is now unimportant to many people.

Technology has left people today overexposed and desensitized to the evil of todays world and

has left patience a rare virtue because of at the speed things can now be done. Also said about

technology was that being a student is ever-becoming more difficult due to the near-necessity of

computer knowledge as well as a college degree, as opposed to her experience of most men in

family getting jobs at factories directly out of high school. The government no longer provides

hope but instead provides humor, drama, and fear. She also said that less people respect God.

Connections to Raisin in the Sun:

This interview relates in many ways to the themes shown in the famous work A Raisin in

the Sun. In the play, a black family living in Chicago during the time of the Civil Rights

Movement struggles with their living situation, money, family, generational gaps, and racism. As
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the family had problems with money, my grandmother grew up somewhat poor. With family and

generational gaps, the Younger family in the play deals with argument of values between

siblings, spouses, and different generations. Adeline observed that her values differ from those of

todays people, especially in regards to money. Walter Younger from the play valued money as

the source of life and happiness, which conflicted with his mothers views on the importance of

family. The interviewee is akin to that viewpoint, focusing not on money but on family and

interpersonal relationships. Both also lived during the Civil Rights Act of the 1960s and

witnessed the hardship of racism, either directly or indirectly.

Conclusion Interview:

The interview was aimed at gaining information about history and individual opinions for

comparison between generations. I interviewed my grandmother, who I know well and often

discuss the past with. She grew up poor in Detroit, valued family over money. She went to

catholic and then public school later and observed how simple public school was. She grew up

without racial prejudice and was surprised at racism when she witnessed it. She views the world

as having less moral sensitivity now, and although large struggles have been overcome, regular

life has become more difficult. It relates to the themes of money, morals, racism, and

generational opinion gaps in A Raisin in the Sun. This interview has been a learning experience

for myself, and helped me to connect to the past through people with direct exposure to events I

have only been explained to me through history books.

Conclusion Own Views (Themes):

Considering my own views on the matter, I realize the themes in the play are broad and

widespread. They affect almost everyones lives, be it the Youngers of the 60s or me, growing

up in the 2010s. I witness how money drives the world. The goal of life, it seems, for many
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people as well as the educational system supposedly preparing us for life is to get a well-paying

job and make money to be happy and live a successful life. I witness racism in todays world

with potentially biased police action and the Black Lives Mater movement is a current event

related to that. I believe this conflict has arose from ignorance and racial tension lingering from

the Civil Rights Movement, which was addressed in the play as well as the interview, rather than

more recent events. Also, being a high school student exposed to a diverse class group, I do

recognize stereotypes attributed to race (mostly in the form of insensitive tasteless jokes). I

witness intergenerational gaps of opinion. Todays adults are generally more conservative as

todays children or younger adults are generally more progressive.

Conclusion Own Views (Comparisons):

I agree with most of my grandmothers comparisons of then and now. I experience the

rate at which information is accessible. I often use Google to quickly learn (or use only once and

immediately forget) many things. The news, which was once aired for only one hour nightly, is

now streamed constantly from many different sources, whether it be television, the internet, or

otherwise. I turn my attention away from news stations because I see far too much negativity. I

can see how most forms of entertainment desensitize people, from violent videogames, to

nonstop news of murders and crime, to oversexualized, overly humorous, overly stimulating

media. Popular music is produced not for feeling, narrative, or connection, as was intended, but

rather to induce nothing more than an earworm.

I especially experience the struggle of being a modern student, being an attendee of a

STEM program. I use a computer at least an hour every day, and have been trained in many

computer skills such as CAD design, programming, typing, and presentation building.

Essentially being trained for an engineers position, the statement made by my grandmother that
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a thorough understanding of technology is necessary to be successful rings very true. Most

students I know (including myself) are regularly stressed concerning schoolwork, where a while

ago one could graduate from high school and find a job in which they could earn a living for

their entire life. This also encompasses the value put on money today.

I also agree with her statement on the American government. Just take this years

political debate as an example. Candidates unfit for office are being heavily supported due to

their popularity, not validity. Politicians are better known for being parts of internet memes or

scandals rather than the resolution of problems.

As to how people have changed, I also agree with my grandmother. Because almost

anything can be accessed in a matter of minutes now, showing patience for moderately time-

consuming processes has become an anomaly. Interpersonal relationships are becoming more

strained due to the constant envelopment people have in technology (mostly cell phones for high

schoolers). Both she and I believe God is now less respected. God, and spirituality in general, has

become a taboo of todays society. By many it is found offensive or insensitive of one to speak

of their spiritual belief. In a world characterized by inclusion and oneness, individuality has

become linked to a negative connotation. With an accepting world comes one of numbness. I

look around, and I see shells of people, filled only with the stimulating effect of the now. I

agree that the world has become easier for everyone by the elimination of huge problems, but

harder for the individual by the progression of common problems.

This interview has showed me how things used to be, and how they have changed (or

not). I feel the experience has left me more in touch with what the world is and how people see

it.

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