The Gold Cadillac is a short story written by Mildred Delois Taylor. This book is about an African American family, the Watsons, who lives in the North but decided to travel down to the South by their new expensive gold Cadillac. Watson's Family were excited to drive their beloved brand new car on their journey, but they got many racial discriminations due to the stereotype: African Americans are not supposed to be that rich to own a Cadillac. Through the story, the author expressed the tough situation the Watsons faced by racial discrimination, as well as how this family strives to accomplish their journey and how they support each other by their love and unity.
The Watsons’ experience reflected the severe racial discrimination existed in society at that time. The father bought a beautiful golden Cadillac through his hard work, and he was so proud of this achievement. However, he got into trouble due to this expensive Cadillac. Their car was stopped by the white policemen during the trip to the south, because the policemen suspected that the car was stolen from another. And even after Wilbert explained that he bought the car, the Watson family was still taken to the police station. Policeman suspected The father was the thief and didn't trust what he said because of the father's skin color. In those 2 policemen's minds, the African American were all poor and they were not supposed to own this kind of expensive car. This highlighted the racial discrimination at that time was very serious. Moreover, the further they drove to the south, the more risk and discrimination they would likely face.
Despite facing tough situations, people should always strive to achieve their objectives by overcoming the challenges and difficulties. Watson's family were willing to drive to the south to meet their grandparents, despite they were struggling with the risk and discrimination in their trip to the grandparents' home. They kept positive and never gave up. As they were denied to live in the motel, they had to sleep in the car in the woods. The kids were afraid to sleep overnight and tensely held a knife to protect the family until the next morning. However, they didn't give up the trip, instead, they went to the uncle's home and changed to a normal car and continued the journey. For the family in that situation, giving up might be the best option for them, but that also meant they would never see their grandparents. If an ordinary being suffered the antagonist warning even threatened, they will probably do what the antagonist says, but Watson's family still insisted on their objective. This also reflects their spirit of perseverance.
Love and unity among the family members can give people the power to conquer all difficulties and move towards a better life. Although the Watsons as a black family met many problems and injustices, they never turn on each other or lost faith in their family's bond. Love can always unite the family together, especially in tough situations. In the beginning, the mother disliked the Cadillac because it's too expensive and risky for this family, but as she knew the father and the children loved this car so much, she then said 'keep it'. However, the father decided to sell the car to keep his family safe. Each member in this family has their own preference, nevertheless, they eventually compromise for others. They still keep a positive mindset and look forward to a better life with their family. The story is a reminder that the unity of the family members can give the power to people overcoming the obstacles.
In Conclusion, 'The gold Cadillac' is a powerful story that tells people the difficult situation that African American faced around the 1950s. The Watson family's story represented the racial discrimination all the black people experienced. However, most of the black people never gave up like Watson family, they continue working hard and moving towards their goals, the better life. Also the African American families like Watson's family are full of love and unity. Although the racial discrimination is not so serious now, we still sometimes see some incidents of racial discrimination in the news reports and newspapers. So we should treat everyone fairly and justly, I believe racial discrimination will disappear in this world forever in the future.
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