Historical Implications
Because the time period in which each novel is set emphasized, especially in Mosley, there are imbedded in the text history lessons that one cannot ignore. In the Easy Rawlins series, study of African-American migration patterns from the Houston/Galveston, Texas areas to Los Angeles, California is part of the background. As well, students can explore the influence of music and its messages during certain political times. In the Blanche White mystery series, students can investigate the roles of domestic workers from the slave plantation to modern times. They can question how much the roles have changed from then until now. Furthermore, in the Himes mystery series students can connect [with the] historical record of African-Americans during the Harlem Renaissance era. Furthermore, students can query how recent the history reflected in these stories is. In the Coffin Ed and Grave Digger series, students will observe the cyclical history of the African in America and the effects the slave plantation era has left upon them. Ironically, students will also notice present day woes of the African-American community embedded in the story, typically in an exaggerated fashion.
The authors have been frequently compared to authors whose worldviews are not at all the same as their own. This certainly speaks to the invisibility experienced by African-Americans writing detective stories in American society. Historical specificity is important in all the novels chosen in this unit. The authors construct a literary model of detective fiction that maps itself onto specific historical and cultural constructs. This interconnection plays an important part in all their subplots and multiple themes.
In Mosley's South Central Los Angeles, we experience a time after World War II and what it is like in the neighborhoods for the average person during that time period. Arguably, Mosley gives readers the sense, in a kind of time warp, that prohibition remains a main part of the underworld society. However, some would say his inclusion of the speakeasy in Devil in a Blue Dress is politically charged, in that it was quite difficult for Blacks to obtain liquor licenses to run a tavern (bar) business. Mosley's Rawlins series also sets in motion our understanding of African-American migration patterns in the US during the period. Students may be led to diagram a map using Rawlins' many references to "back home" - Houston, Texas. Finally, there is Mosley's emphasis on jazz music, suggesting the specific styles of Kansas City and the Southwest; West Coast transplants were grooving to a different beat than their contemporaries on the East Coast.
Neely's protagonist first lives in Farleigh, North Carolina, then relocates to Boston, Massachusetts. We are placed in a historical context pre-9/11. Her novel series written in the 90's allows us to surmise the time period she suggests in her narrative. She narrates her imaginary world as displacing the structure of a slave plantation, whether in Farleigh or Boston. Students may be able to trace this connection through her incessant use of differentiating characters by skin color and mannerisms of reaction/response in her series. This residual plantation mentality can also be observed in Blanche's relationships with family and employers. Blanche also worships in the way of the African; before slavery, some would say, dismissing any relation to European religious gods or practices. Secondly, Neely pokes holes in Black folks' thinking that some African-American people are above others based on color. Students may tend to agree with this view since infraracial prejudice still occurs in their lifetimes. Time will be spent on this portion of historical data and tradition. A lesson from the Harlem Renaissance era can also accompany Neely's works. Finally, students will experience Blanche's heritage and traditions in the food dishes she serves to her employers and her two children. The role of woman as mother in the Black family also plays it part. Blanche has adopted the two children of her dead sister and finds solace and purpose in that role, too - mothering a nation.
As to Himes' detective series, we know his work was written in the late 1950's and early 1960's. However, his work can make you feel as if you are in "the here and now." Himes masterfully puts together a literary series that can be viewed as timeless, although some of the music referenced can date the material. For the most part, his connecting the dots of urban life through the lens of one who is socially and politically aware is outstanding. His representations of the Panthers, religious pimps, the pimp, the church ladies, and the femme fatale have striking resemblances to all the same characters of our day. Despite these similarities, students will have to revisit the plight of Black people before, during, and after the civil rights era in order to capture the scope of Himes' historical views. Students will be able to relate to his timeless works once they understand this history. Finally, Himes' reflections and writing style correlate to jazz improvisation, and this too will evoke what the time period represents.
Social and Economic Links
Students will deepen their understanding of the implications behind the crimes or murders taking place. Mystery novels are normally crafted so that the crime is linked to romantic interests, lust, greed, public status, personal gain, or fear for reputation. But the well-crafted detective novel includes social and economic ramifications too. In these novels, students will be guided through the interweaving of many social issues that play a major function in the economic status of a people like Black rage, race, and crime.
The theme of weakness can be seen in the detective genre, and more specifically in the African-American mystery stories. Weakness exists everywhere, but here most pointedly in characters outside of the Black community, and this is what puts the Black Detective in motion— the African-American detective as a hero. This person is allowed to probe society's weakness to rid it of crime, evil, poison. In all of the novels, the authors play with our minds like chess pieces, taking us from one social or political statement or stance to another. Because of this preoccupation with weakness in society, the solution of the crime in the detective novel can be seen to strengthen a social order that threatens to fall apart. In the African-American detective novel, not only does the detective solve crime, but also provides solace to the community they serve.
In these depicted African-American communities the vulnerability created by poverty that is always emphasized. This theme provides a foil for the champions who can restore safety and self-respect by eradicating evil. Also, the plight in which Black people are made to live, scraping what is left for them off the land and by others, allows the detective to borrow certain traits from the criminal element in the novels. While reading these novels, this distracts us from the scapegoat, the criminal, because the distinction between him and others is lessened.
During the reading and discussing of clues and details in the texts, students will have to objectively look at the factual details to fit them in the broader context of social and economic realities. Students will learn to detect social encoding while reading. They will also have to decode what they read to solve the crime before the detective does; this will positively influence students' reading habits. Students will expand their ability to detect social and economic clues in the stories by working closely in groups to draw conclusions about the worlds they find represented.
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