Racism in I Know Why the Caged Bird by Maya Angelou Sings Maya Angelou, the current poet laureate of the United States, has become an exemplary role model for many people . He read an original poem at President Clinton's inauguration; she also appeared on the TV show "Touched by an Angel", and there she read another poem of her own composition; He holds numerous lectures, inspiring young people to aim high in life. Yet this is an unlikely start for a woman who, at age thirty, was San Francisco's first black streetcar conductor; an unmarried mother; the madam of a San Diego brothel; a prostitute, a showgirl and an actress (Lichtler, 861927397.html). Her book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings argues persuasively that what made Angelou's pursuit of her exceptionally high potential so unconventional—as well as so challenging—was the racism that seemed determined to keep her in check. In her book, an autobiography, Angelou paints a vivid picture of a poor black girl who, with her brother Bailey, was sent to live with their grandmother in Arkansas while her mother, an entertainer, led a much faster life in California. The little girl, named Ritie (short for Marguerite; "Maya" was the name her brother gave her), had the peculiar experience of growing up in a black community whose rules were set by white people whom Maya hardly saw. As one website about Angelou's life and works notes, "White people were more than strangers: they were from another planet. Yet, though invisible, they ruled" ("Discussion," cage.html). As a result, he experienced racism in no way. uncertain terms. In chapter 17, Angelou describes how her brother Bailey stayed out late into the night, long after blacks had to observe curfews in o... half of the paper... website of the Victorian Association for the Teaching of English. . http://edx1.educ.monash.edu.au/VATE/pub/angelou.htmAngelou, Maya. I know why the caged bird sings. (New York, NY: Bantam Books) 1971.Barlow, Renee. “Race Relations in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/msgspool/banned/ background/861927397.html.Carey, Sara. "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" (review). (1996). http://www.mcs.net/~prndrgst/careycaged.html.Lichtler, Jennifer. "The Life of Maya Angelou." http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/msgspool/banned/ background/861927397.html.Nichols, Sarah. "Censorship of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/msgspool/banned/ background/861927397.html.Walker, Pierre A. “Racial Protest, Identity, and Form in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.” (1995) vol. 22, University literature, 1 October, pp. 91.