The Train From Hate Summary

The Train from Hate” by John Hope Franklin
John Hope Franklin’s “The Train from Hate” tells a story of a black family in Oklahoma during the time of racial separatism. When the family boards a train to head a couple miles out of town to Checotah, the conductor informs the mother that they must leave the train when it stops. The mother tells the kids that they must exit the train and head back to their hometown of Rentiesville. The narrator, who is a young boy does not understand why the white conductor is being so hateful to the colored family. This is a pure evidence of the innocence of children. His mother began to speak to the boy to calm him. She began explaining to the boy that even though they were separated by race, one single race was not superior to the other. The mother then said “under no circumstances, should I be upset or distressed because someone sought to demean me.” (Franklin 711) These words stuck with this boy for the entirety of his life, acting as a compass for how he interpreted actions of others. The major claim the author seems to portray in this short piece is the value of life, not based on race but on character. The claim of racism is also heavily emphasized. However, racism is one of the most prominent claims, I believe the author wanted the reader to relate with the claim of human value.
The biggest claim used throughout the story is the claim that white and blacks are not inferior to one another. The author claims that racism is not something that is eternal, and that racism is how you take it. The author seems to rely heavily on self-interpretation and self-worth. The author claims that a single race is not better than another, just separate. The authors claims revolve around, racism, self-worth, and the idea of separate but